


Why do you only call me when you're high?

by Nerdygeekflower



Series: Why do you only call me when You're high [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, EVERYONE HAS A LOT OF FEELINGS WHILE KLAUS IS UNCONSCIOUS, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fevers, Five is disgustingly fun to write, Gen, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Grotesque use of commas, Grotesque use of dashes, He still a dope tho, Hurt, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Injury, Kidnapping, Klaus Hargraves has Issues, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Luther is Not a Dick AU, Major Character Injury, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Procedures, My First Work in This Fandom, No Apocalypse, No Beta, No Incest, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Drug Addiction, Past Drug Use, Post-Canon, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Recovery, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sick Klaus Hargreeves, Sickfic, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Torture, Tumblr Prompt, Vanya is a cutie ok, Violence, Whump, fuggler, grotesque use of paretheisis, its finals week and I can't stop thinking about this, its klaus ok, this fandom is eating my brain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-01-10 19:12:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 24,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18414122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdygeekflower/pseuds/Nerdygeekflower
Summary: I found a tumblr promt by legendarywhump when looking through an Umbrella Academy tag and it ate my brain but the promt gives away a lot of the plot so...Klaus is kidnaped (again) and tortured (again). His Captor seems to know a lot. And have a lot of plans, not just for Klaus but also for his siblings.a heavy Klaus torture and recovery fic that I wanted so I wrote. + Some long ass author's notes because that's how I roll.NOW HAS SEQUEL





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is another one of those, "The apocalypse didn't happen and they all live in the same house again" AUs  
> I love whump escpically the fluff and recovery parts I will warn you guys I have a terrible history of abandoning fics, I'm gonna try really I'm gonna. Its been a long time and I haven't written in a while but I really wanted to do this. There is not enough whump for Klaus there just isn't. I am likely going to split what I have into a few shorter chapters and post once a day to give myself time, at the moment I have about 2,200 words which I'm going to split into 2 thousand word chunks. I think, OR 1 thousand and 2 500 because it splits up better in the story that way ://  
> Another thing I want to say before the fic is that I am dyslexic so if you see any mistakes please be kind? I will fix them.  
> I have been thinking about this kind of fic for awhile and then I saw a prompt that focused it on the blog aceofwhump when going through their UA tag (looking for Klaus whump). The prompt give away A LOT of the plot so if you want to remain surprised skip from here to the fic: 
> 
> The whumper has been keeping the whumpee hostage for days, or even weeks, torturing them. Finally, the whumpee cannot handle the pain any longer, and passes out.The whumper travels to a public place, like a park, unloads the whumpee, and calls the whumpee’s team, pretending to be a“concerned citizen.”“I found your number in their pocket,” the whumper says. “And right before they passed out, they begged me not to call 911. I was hoping…”The team, of course, comes rushing to the whumpee’s side, and the whumper sticks to their character, saying they don’t know what happened, they just found the whumpee like this, “Are they going to be okay? Are you sure they can’t go to the hospital?” And in general, act so shaken and upset that the team finally agrees to let them come back to their base.There, the integrate themselves into the care of the whumpee, offering an extra set of hands wherever is needed, keeping watch over the whumpee’s bedside for hours, slowly gaining the team’s trust.When the whumpee finally comes to, and is horrified to see the whumper, the team assumes they’re confused from the meds and the torture, and the whumper plays into that, acting utterly hurt and confused by the whumpee’s actions.Cue moments of feigned reassurance-“Don’t worry, I’m right here,”-that warm the hearts of the team members, but are secretly threats. How long does it take the team to believe the whumpee? Do they ever, or does the whumper accidentally get found out? How does the team react when they find out they’ve been trusting the whumpee’s safety to the person who hurt them? What do they do? Does the whumpee forgive them

It had been about two months since not-pocalypse as Klaus had come to call it, and since then he and his adopted siblings had settled into a routine. At first it had been awkward and bumpy and new to navigate around the relationships and rankings they had been raised in, but slowly and surely the scars healed. They still hit snags, here and there but with every day it was getting easier. Vanya was beginning to blossom in her new powers and to some extent so was Klaus. The focus for the past months had understandably been Vanya, but Klaus’s development was not ignored by his siblings, which was a new but not unwelcome change. As a whole, the academy seemed to think that they had spent too much time emotionally constipated to continue that way. The biggest thing Klaus had accomplished though besides making Ben corporal (on purpose) twice and staying sober.

  
The sober thing was a bigger deal and probably the reason behind any steps he made in his powers. However, Klaus was feeling at the moment that maybe his family’s newfound emotional health was being taken too far, his family was planning a surprise ‘two months clean’ party for him, and while he appreciated the thought he didn’t know how to explain to them that he really really didn’t want a party. Or a cake. Actually, he might want a cake, just not one that said ‘you didn’t do drugs’. At this point it was a badge of failure, two months sober and he still hadn’t seen Dave. Two months sober and he still woke up every night tangled in his sweaty sheets a cry of ‘Christ on a cracker’ stuck in his throat. Two months and he still couldn’t make the dead just go away and leave him alone. The hard truth he had yet to discuss with his family was that he was reaching his limit. There were only so many baths a man could take before he cracked. It was just still so loud. Klaus knew, deep deep down that he had another month max before he inevitably relapsed. If only he could see Dave then maybe…

  
He frowned intensely at a pebble on the sidewalk. He kicked it ahead of himself and trudged on, kicking the pebble as he went, he was on a walk, for fresh air sometimes despite the newly found harmony at the Academy it still felt suffocating to be there. Thankfully that was one thing he didn’t have to explain to his Family. Vanya went to her job, Luther had taken to boxing at the gym Diego no longer lived at, Allison had moved her acting career to the stage to stay close to them, Diego was almost through the Police Academy take 2, and Klaus, well Klaus went on walks.

  
At first the others had been skeptical he could be trusted out in the big bad world by himself, Klaus vehemently pointed out he wasn’t by himself Ben was with him, early on Allison or Diego or even Luther (awkwardly) would join him, eventually they got comfortable, he didn’t go to neighborhoods where he used to frequent so why worry? Klaus dully thought that maybe he was playing a long game, he had convinced them that he wouldn’t get drugs, so now, if he chose to, he could. With that morbid thought, he accidentally sent the stone flying across the street. He sighed dramatically, what was he supposed to do to entertain himself now? He looked towards the stone idly thinking he could cross the street and keep kicking it if he really wanted to. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere, and strangely enough there were no cars on the street. Or any other people, living or dead.

  
Klaus shivered, Ben wasn’t even there at the moment. As much as he hated crowds he hated being alone more, the silence was scary and un-familiar. Klaus’s world was always full bursting with people and sound. Now it was dead quiet. Ha. Dead. It was even perhaps what one might call a ‘ghost town’. Klaus chuckled but it turned into another shiver, he pulled whatever coat he had grabbed tighter around his too thin body. Thinking on it now this was not his coat, it might have been Diego’s. Klaus suddenly realized he was not dressed for the weather, it was a dreary and cold night in the city, and he was wearing a tight miniskirt, sparkly Birkenstocks, and his pajama tank top (all topped off with Diego’s Jacket). He had woken up from a horrible yet familiar nightmare, Dave’s death but played like a silent movie where Klaus could only watch from the side in horror, and ran out of the house grabbing whatever shoes and non-pj bottom he could find so he could get out of the house and just breathe. He had no idea what time it was and he had almost no idea where he was. He began searching the pockets of the jacket for money for a cab when Ben appeared from nowhere.

  
“There won’t be drugs in there, it’s not your jacket.” Ben said in lieu of a greeting.

  
“I’m not looking for Drugs, I’m looking for Cash” He answered without breaking stride “For a cab.” He added quickly, “I’m not totally sure where I am”

  
“Uh-huh” Ben said falling into stride next to him, “Nightmare?”

  
“No, it was a wonderful dream about rabbits, little fluffy bunnies.”

  
“You should talk to someone about it.”

  
“They know about the nightmares.” Klaus gave up looking for cash when he found a phone, it was an old flip phone- so no Uber, damn. Though maybe he could use it to call a cab and promise them cash when they got to the Academy.

  
“Not a sibling, like a therapist. I think you might have PTSD.” Klaus was distracted from his musings on his brother’s probable burner phone by that statement.

  
“What?”

  
“I think you might have PTSD” Ben said again, they stopped walking and Klaus turned to face his brother.

  
“Huh.” He shoved the phone back in his pocket before picking up his pace again Ben paused but easily caught up.

  
“I’m serious dude, I mean you were in a war…”

  
“We probably all have it.” Klaus said thoughtfully, scouring the ground for another rock, “dude.” He added after a moment.

  
“Maybe.” Ben said after a heavy pause and pursed his lips slightly that made Klaus feel that this topic was far from closed. This was not the last he would hear of this.

  
“Do you think Luther would hate it if I got a cat?” Klaus changed the subject before his brother could continue with the previous one.

  
“Klaus-“  
“I’m just not sure if cats get along with monkeys ya know? Do you think it would be a problem? I think I would like a cat.”

  
“Kl-“ Ben didn’t get the full word out before someone grabbed Klaus from behind, there was the familiar sensation of a needle going into his neck, and then. Blackness.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet Andrew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is a short little chapter for ya guys, before the end of the day you will get another one about this size, I'm going to post about 1000 words/a day that I post (does that make any sense? I may not be able to post everyday) but I reserve the right to split it up to flow with the story. I have total on this 4890 words so far I just thought this was a better place to break the chapter. Sue me.

Andrew had been following this weirdo for a month and a half now, technically though he had only been following this one alone for a month, it had only taken him two weeks to determine that this one –number four was it?– was the weakest link. His way in. The guy went walking by himself at all hours, it didn’t take long to formulate a plan. Phase one was going to be tonight, grab the guy. He hadn’t picked today, this guy had, he had been carrying his grab kit for a while now waiting for the right moment. And tonight, it had presented itself oh so perfectly. 

Andrew had almost missed it, sitting in the rented room across from the façade of the ‘Academy’ he almost fell asleep almost missed the scrawny little junkie burst through the ridiculous doors decorated with umbrellas and take off at a brisk walk down the street. Andrew had been quick to follow looping his van around blocks to make his prey none the wiser until the idiot entered a residential area, there was an ally running between two apartment buildings, he could park his van on one end of the ally hidden behind the building sneak through the ally grab the guy and have him in the van in minutes, his car wouldn’t even be on the street he was taken from. Perfect. 

Andrew chucked to himself it was too easy. It was almost a shame this guy was so stupid. He positioned himself and waited, he heard the dumb-ass babbling (apparently to himself) about cats of all things… and monkeys? Whatever. Andrew was quick to slip out of the ally sting him with the sedative and haul him back into the darkness. He hauled Klaus up, he weighed nothing, Andrew had known he was skinny but this guy was skin and bones, it took no effort to toss him into the van. The van was black, and Andrews most hatted possession, it made him look like a creep a pedo, it drew attention made his job hard, but the van was necessary. It had been gutted in the back and set up with a makeshift holding cell, it was even padded if he needed to deliver someone un-harmed, thankfully that wasn’t the plan here. No, Andrew got to have his fun on this assignment.

He tossed Klaus in the back where he lay lifelessly, Andrew followed him in. He had a few things to set up and he didn’t want any peeping eyes. Quickly and efficiently he taped Klaus’s mouth, he bound his wrists and stripped him of his coat and shoes and strangely enough skirt, he searched the coat pocketing the phone he found smiling to himself, perfect. He left on the brightly colored underwear. He was no pervert. Then he set up the IV, messily it took several tries and a lot of swearing but he didn’t have a choice. The file said number four was a known drug user so he couldn’t know how long the sedatives he had given him would last. Better to have a steady flow, just to be safe. Andrew couldn’t help but smile as he thought of all the new tortures he could create with that much control. Finally, he bound Klaus’s ankles, not because he had to, but he wanted to he took only a second to admire his handiwork before locking the back of the van and heading to the other side of the city. There was more work to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of you expressed interest in my service dog idea. Hopefully I actually make that happen but if anyone wants to use it as a prompt I'd be honored. Anyways, the next chapter has some whump in it :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so we begin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised here is a little more for you. :) the next time I post it will be longer I promise but this plus earlier today's chapter is about a thousand words. I do have to warn you that I will be traveling over the next 2-3 days so I may not be able to post hopefully I will be able to give you a hefty chapter tomorrow morning. I have a back log of 2 and a half more chapters of about 1000 words each. I'm really enjoying writing this! I hope you all like it! I keep telling you all about the word count because I am paranoid my updates are too short I know when I see a short fic I'm like pffft who does this joker think they are?? me. I'm the joker.

Klaus woke slowly hazily, the familiar haze of drugs floating him back into the real world, that was odd he couldn’t remember taking anything. Though he had to admit that it was the best sleep he’d experienced in months. 

“Are we waking up now?” a voice he did not know said happily, Klaus was temporarily able to persuade himself that he was waking up after a night out to Dave by his side, then something hit him in the side. Hard. Oh, not Dave then. The memory came back he had been walking with Ben and he had been kidnapped, again. He forced his eyes open to face his tormenter, a tall muscular blonde man with handsome features, and bright blue eyes smiled back at him.

“Ah hello.” The man said smacking Klaus again with – was that a cricket bat? Klaus felt his ribs crack and he tried to scream. He couldn’t his mouth was taped. Why did they always do that? The man leaned back and watched Klaus, who blinked back at him, he was in a basement, lying on his side on the cold concrete he was also mostly naked –the sick fuck. 

His hands and legs were bound. He made to move to his knees when he was struck again, this time he felt several ribs break. He sucked in a breath through his nose and fell onto his back and noticed the IV line. The guy had put an IV in him? He followed the line with his eyes but was distracted when the man grabbed his chin and forced Klaus to look at him. “Now, before we really get started let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Andrew I’ll be your cruise director for the week.” Andrew laughed and spit hit Klaus’s face, he flinched, wait a week? Klaus’s eyes widened and he tried to scuttle backwards but failed miserably. 

Andrew drew a knife out from his belt and Klaus wondered if it was the same brand that Diego used. Using the knife Andrew lazily drew a line from Klaus’s waist to his neck while he continued his speech. 

“yes a week, I’m going to keep you here for a week. I’m going to hurt you Klaus, or do you prefer number four? Anyways, I am going to hurt you. Badly. Then. Then I’m going to starve you. Then I’m going to hurt you some more. But I won’t kill you. No. Not yet. Out of the seven of you I will kill you last, I think.” The knife moved back down Klaus’s torso pressure building slowly. “You’re my way in you see. To the Academy.” The knife came to a stop above Klaus’s hip, Andrew smiled before pulling the knife back and forcing the whole blade in. Klaus screamed against the tape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is like a whole lot of Ben Angst. I also started skipping around in time, I promise it makes sense tho. I wanted to scatter the whumping scenes so it wasn't just plotplot WHUUUUMP recovery plotplot recovery END. I'm rambling. Sorry. 
> 
> Also I was picturing Andrew as like a taller Bradly James, who played Arthur in Merlin. Merlin was the reason I watched TUA because Tom Hopper is in it and I LOVED him in Merlin he was just there to be a sexy knight. 
> 
> Also is my spacing weird? Ao3's text editing is not it sis.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unofficially called 'Chilly boy'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben is an ANGSTY BOY

The basement that Andrew held him in was cold. It was so so cold.  Klaus was skinny. Unhealthily so. The Hargraves sibling emotional overhaul hadn’t quite had time to address this yet. Sure, Klaus had always been lanky but since the drugs, and the homelessness he had become rail thin. A side effect of this was that Klaus got cold fast. He was always cold too, he remembered a distinct moment from his childhood where he had come in to the house and stuck his ic-cold hands down Diego’s shirt, causing him to yelp out, something about Klaus being ridiculous to have such cold hands in May. Klaus couldn’t help it. He was a chilly boy. But now laying on the cold ground of the basement he resented this fact. Klaus wasn’t just cold. He was FREEZING. The chill did nothing to numb his pain though, because Klaus was a chilly boy, not a lucky one.

 

            He had stopped taking stock of his injuries at some point. Stopped caring. Andrew was doing a wonderful job injuring him as much as possible without actually killing him. Avoiding stabbing him in major important places, mostly sticking to breaking bones and making deep cuts on his back and legs. Klaus was helpless in every sense of the word. The first thing Andrew had done was badly break his left foot Klaus tried not to think about his foot he didn’t want to throw up in his mouth. Again. There was no way he could run no way he could warn his family. He didn’t even know enough to give them a proper warning. He didn’t even know what day it was, it was impossible to know how long he had been unconscious it could have been hours it could have been days. He could be in another state, or he could be next door to the academy he had no way of knowing. The worst part was that this guy- this jerk was going to hurt his siblings. He every time he broke a bone opened a cut he would change his mind about who he was going to kill first and how.

 

            “Hey” it was Ben. Ben had been there the whole time, he had even toyed with the idea of making Ben corporal to try to… what fight him off? Warn the others? Kill him? “You need to stay awake, Klaus. I know it’s hard, but please for me?” Ben didn’t wait for a response even with the tape Klaus was too weak to respond. “I think he’s keeping you hydrated with the IV, he doesn’t want to kill you.” Was that supposed to be reassuring? There was a silence Ben kneeling next to Klaus hoping his presence would offer some comfort.

 

 Ben wished he could brush the sweaty matted hair from Klaus’s head, and maybe check on the fever Klaus had so obviously developed. He couldn’t he’d tired but he had gone right through and Klaus had winced at the cold. Ben was terrified to try it again he couldn’t, wouldn’t, cause his brother more pain. Andrew had gone for now he never left for very long often returning just to watch Klaus make certain he didn’t do anything to escape not that he could.

           

            For what felt like the one millionth time Ben took stock of Klaus’s injuries. There was the foot which was crushed and twisted barely even resembling a foot, Ben glanced at it quickly to make certain it wasn’t infected. He saw bone, and shuddered not that he didn’t know it was there already but it still made him sick. In addition to the foot his entire left leg lay crooked like more bones had been broken in it, Ben tried not to wonder if it would even be the same. Most of Klaus’s ribs were broken he was sure of it, and his left collar bone and right wrist, plus about three fingers on each hand. He had a black eye, a split lip and bruises everywhere. There were only a few places Klaus wasn’t bruised. Or cut. Cuts of varying sizes and depths littered Klaus’s torso and body, several were already infected a few so badly so that they oozed puss. Ben worried that despite what he said this Andrew may unintentionally kill Klaus with sepsis, Klaus did not have the strongest immune system and the basement was dirty. And cold. Ben wished not for the first time that he could remove his hoodie and lay it over Klaus. They were only about a block from the Academy Ben had checked. He hadn’t spent much time out of the basement during Klaus’s capture, he couldn’t leave him alone. Not even Ben was sure what day it was. Andrew had said a week but why would Ben believe him? Klaus had been given neither food nor water in the time he had been there, but, Andrew had kept the damn IV line stocked to keep Klaus alive, meaning Klaus couldn’t risk pulling it out or even trying to. Not that Ben could suggest that, all he could do was watch and wait. And hope. Pray to whatever god had tethered him to Klaus, and given them these horrible powers that his siblings would find them. And kill Andrew.

   

* * *

 

The light that burst from the top of the stairs indicated Andrew’s return Ben whispered to Klaus to brace himself wondering if his brother had anything left in him to brace. Andrew walked up to Klaus’s limp and feeble form prodding his destroyed foot with the steel toe of his boot Klaus whimpered without making a sound and was instantly reminded of how his foot got that way.

 

* * *

 

_“You’re my way in you see. To the Academy.” The knife came to a stop above Klaus’s hip, Andrew smiled before pulling the knife back and forcing the whole blade in. Klaus screamed against the tape.  Andrew left the blade where it was and took out another one to cut Klaus’s left leg free taping his right to a support post nearby. “Obviously I can’t have you trying to run. Not that you’ll be in any shape to.” He cupped the back of Klaus’s heel in his palm as if he were Prince Charming come to put the slipper on Cinderella. He took his knife and drew it across the arch of Klaus’s foot. His ribs screamed in protest as his whole body arched and he screamed. Andrew drew the knife away. “not so ticklish I see. Something else then?” He grabbed the foot in both hands seemingly unbothered as Klaus wiggled and kicked against his palms. Then he began to twist the foot in a way a foot shouldn’t twist, left once than right once then left. Tears burst from Klaus’s eyes and he shut them tight. He dropped the mangled foot and before Klaus could even open his eyes his boot came down again and again sandwiching Klaus’s left foot between the concreate and his steel toed military issue footwear._

* * *

 

Now, Andrew took a hold of Klaus’s right foot bringing the tip of a knife to his heel. He spun the knife carefully making a red dot in the center of Klaus’s heel, he then gently set the foot down. Klaus trembled relieved despite himself. His body started to relax when seemingly out of nowhere Andrew’s hand came down to strike his shin. Klaus felt something crack and then Andrew went to work striking him again and again at injuries that had been there for days, using his knife to open up old cuts and new ones along his legs and arms. “I only have you to myself for a couple more hours I gotta pretty you up for your family. I’m thinking I’ll just shot the big one in the head.”  Luther. Luther and his family. What was Andrew going to do to them, he kept saying that he had plans for his family, that this was only the beginning, how can something so horrible go on for much longer Klaus didn’t know. What he did know was that he didn’t want this man to hurt his family. To hurt Vanya, Diego, any of them. But he swore by God’s fancy hat he wanted to see them again, selfishly even if it meant they were in danger he wanted to see them again. He really was a horrible brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter we see how the rest of the family is doing without Klaus, like I said it might not be up till Saturday so I gave you a little extra here :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siblings have a meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! I had not forgotten about you! I have a bit of a busy week but I will post when I can! I like to leave myself a cushion of about 1 chapter between where I am in writing and what is posted that being said I gave you a bit more today to make up for the big gap in posting... this was almost split into 2 chapters but I didn't do that
> 
> I also wanna say I know jack about shit when it comes to medical / body things so its gonna be inaccurate not more so then like... comic books... but please... its fan fic... don't take it too seriously. I am just a theater major like if you want to know about scenic design acting and stage management I'm yo gal but I know nothing about like what to do with a badly broken foot. I'm here to write Klaus being tormented and comforted not tell you what to do in a crisis. Forgive me.

Klaus had been missing for almost six days now and the entire Hargraves clan was torn between panic and ‘its just Klaus he’s fine’. Their recent attempts at being a proper and supportive family would lead them away from dismissing Klaus’s absence as non-alarming, but they could not ignore the fact that Klaus was Klaus and Klaus tended to disappear. Coming and going from the manor as he pleased. But it was worrying, even if he was back into drugs it had been a dreary cold and rainy past few days, and Klaus was not exactly known for being the hardiest of their rag-tag bunch. Diego wasn’t sure if he was mad or relieved that Klaus seemed to have stolen his favorite jacket. At least he would be warm. Diego brought this point up repeatedly at their increasingly frequent ‘Where the heck is Klaus’ meeting.

 

“Even if he is warm he’s still missing” Luther made a good point. Damn him.

 

“This is a waste of time, we all know where he went.” Five said impatiently from his perch on the arm chair with his coffee. He appeared to be relaxed and at ease legs crossed neatly elbows propped up coffee firmly in hand. He would have been picture perfect if not for Dolores bringing a very weird and surreal element to the image. The mannequin was wedged behind five in a way that it –she almost appeared to have her single arm around his shoulders. Diego sometimes swore he could see Dolores rub Five’s shoulder. Vanya was right they all needed massive therapy.

 

“and where would that be?” Luther cut in to Diego’s slight revelation, seemingly genuinely interested in what Five claimed to know, looking ready to blow the mission siren and suit up to collect Klaus.

 

“Some ally somewhere, high.” Five brushed off with a sip of his drink to punctuate his point.

 

“He’s been clean for almost two months” Diego interjected Five rolled his eyes, sitting himself further back into Dolores’s embrace. Diego tried to practice not looking at Dolores and pretending she wasn’t there.  

 

“And he’s been barreling towards a relapse at light speed, Diego are you completely blind or just an idiot?” Five fired back.

 

“We don’t know that for sure, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt!”  Five had about a 75% chance of being right but if they assumed that all the work they had done over the past two months was for naught.

 

“I’ve already searched everywhere else I can think of!” That shut Diego up for a moment, he hadn’t known that Five had been looking for Klaus already.

 

“Then why don’t you go look at some alleys then!”

 

“I did that too!” The silence in the room that followed was deafening, Five was worried. Trying to disguise his worry behind nonchalance. Five took another sip of his coffee, and adjusted Dolores. “As soon as I find him I’m sticking a tracker in his neck.”

 

“We should all get one.” Luther said, helpfully. Five gave him a look that dared him to try and put a tracker on him. Vanya’s leg bounced anxiously, this was her first crisis as a member of the Academy and if she was being honest she had been hoping for something a little less personal. A little more cut-and-dry. An easy win, nothing was ever easy was it?

 

“Okay so what do we know?” Vanya cut in to the discussion that was in danger of getting circular. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. “Klaus went missing, about a week ago. The security cameras tell us he woke up around 1am grabbed Diego’s jacket and left. For a walk?” everyone nodded it was unspoken that Klaus had suffered a nightmare and felt the need to flee the Academy. Just at that second, Diego’s phone rang.

 

* * *

 

 

Andrew was pleased with his work on the scrawny junkie man. Klaus, he reminded himself. He should start to use his name. Several wounds were infected and he had developed an obvious fever which should give his siblings even more of a reason to doubt him. He could hear it now; _‘Klaus you’re confused you have a high fever’_. Andrew checked all the wounds, deepening some and adding the finishing touches, the things he had been holding off on until he could give Klaus medical attention he couldn’t risk him dying before but now the closer to death the better. This was simple Klaus was already in pretty bad shape, Andrew just had to add some deeper cuts here and there and induce a little internal bleeding. Easy.

 

Finally, he gave Klaus a large dose of the sedatives. And removed the line using, his knife and fists to cover any trace that it had been there, more reasons not to believe Klaus _‘Klaus there is no sign of a IV what are you talking about?’._ He was already unconscious at this point but he needed to be sure, he wrapped Klaus up in the coat he had been wearing when he took him –it was the only piece of clothing that remained at this point, he had long since cut away the tank top and the underwear had quickly become too grimy for him to stand. If he was naked and pissed he could just dump some water on him to banish the smell.

 

He wrapped Klaus up in the jacket and brought him out to the car locking him in the van. Then he went to go get changed himself, running shoes and joggers and a windbreaker, looking to the world like an average citizen out on their morning jog. He drove to the park across town under the cover of the night and unloaded Klaus unto the ground covering him with the jacket, he didn’t like risking leaving his captive there but he had to get rid of the van. He tucked the jacket around him in a way that he hoped made him look like just another homeless person passed out.

 

He quickly and efficiently drove the van back to his hole and got a cab to the other side of the park he jogged leisurely towards where he knew Klaus was taking the urge to smile when he saw him up ahead just as he left him and turning it into the frown of the concerned citizen. When he reached Klaus he was still very much unconscious, his breathing maybe even a little slow. This didn’t bother Andrew, if anything it would only give his family more reason to doubt him if he OD’d; _‘Klaus you must have relapsed and gotten beat up by a dealer or something’._ There was no one in the park –but to be safe he still made a show of bending over Klaus asking if he was ok and ‘looking for ID’ only to pull out the flip phone he knew was there, fumble with it and hit dial on the first contact. There were only three contacts in the phone, one he knew by the extension was an office number for police plaza, and he was willing to bet that at least one of the other two were one of the siblings.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sheeeettttttt :) 
> 
> like I said I have a busy week ahead of me so who knows what the posting sitch will be. I can't write fanfic around other people and I'm home with my family for spring break so ... we shall see... 
> 
> also please tell me what you all think I do read every comment and love each one. (even if I give you a defensive response I still love that you commented.)


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay here! Klaus gets to come home! yay!... or...?
> 
> Also I have noticed in writing that I am focusing heavier on Diego Five and Vanya but heavy on Diego, no shade on Allison and Luther they just interact with Klaus less I feel so they don't have as many EmOTioNs. I mean Vanya doesn't interact with him much but that gal has eMotIOns to spare so.

Diego pulled out his phone as Luther huffed to complain about him taking a call at a time like this Diego recognized the number. It was his.

 

“Guys.” He said suddenly shutting up the argument that was bubbling between his siblings. “My own Burner phone is calling me.”

 

“What does that mean?” Vanya felt not for the first time since coming into her powers like she was very much behind on some things. She only sort of knew what a burner phone was, she thought they only existed in TV but then again so did vigilantes and Diego was one of those.

 

“I dunno, I thought I lost it. I must have left it…” Diego didn’t have time to let his siblings have the realization that he had just had. Coat. The phone had been in his coat. He answered it and hit speaker holding up a hand to silence Luther before he could even start.

 

“Hello? Klaus?” Diego said, the line was grainy and not well connected.

 

“Hello? I’m sorry, I know this is odd but I-“

 

“Who the hell are you and what the hell did you do.” Diego was unforgiving and on edge, the person on the other end would be guilty until proven innocent dam what they were teaching him at the Police Academy.

 

“Nothing! I-I swear! I’m sorry, My name is Andrew and I found this guy in the park he asked me not to call the police before he passed out… and I found this phone in his pocket… I was looking for ID…”

 

“Skinny guy? Dark hair? Tattoos?”

 

“Yeah- yeah! That’s him, he passed out he’s hurt –real bad I think, I thought he was drunk or something… oh my god that is a lot of blood…” There were wide eyes all around the room frozen before everyone started moving grabbing things getting into the van they had acquired to travel as a group –Klaus’s idea.

 

“Where are you? We’re on our way. Don’t call the Police don’t leave him alone.” Diego fired off quick orders to the well-meaning civilian on the other end. He kept the line open as Five blinked into the driver’s seat and sped them towards the location, Luther didn’t even fight for five not to drive.

 

* * *

 

 

When they got there the Andrew guy was leaning over Klaus checking his pulse. Diego had to fight the urge to tell the man to get the hell away from his brother. He was just a concerned citizen, without this guy Diego may have never seen Klaus again Andrew looked up as they all came stampeding out of the car.

“He-hello, Are you- you the family?”

“Yeah.” Luther said politely, Five pushed passed the formalities both literally and figuratively and Diego followed. The girls stood back near the van huddled close and holding each other.

“His pulse- it’s pretty weak but I’m no doctor, shouldn’t we take him to the hospital? He seemed so scared when I found him I don’t know what happened he just asked me not to call the police and collapsed!” Diego bent down on one side of Klaus as Five took the other gingerly lifting Klaus’s wrist for a pulse. As soon as Five had touched it he put it down gently.

“Broken” he said matter of factly mouth forming a thin line Diego swallowed not trusting his voice. Five moved his hands to Klaus’s neck taking his pulse there. “He’s right it’s weak, I think he’s got a Fever too though it’s hard to tell in this cold, we need to get him back to Mom and the Academy.” Diego nodded and looked up at Luther he himself could carry Klaus easily (it wasn’t like he weighed much and god could he really have gotten skinnier in a week?) but Luther would have a far easier time of it, he was also less likely to jostle Klaus. Luther kneeled and as gently as possible scooped up Klaus. Number Four made a faint almost in-discernable whimper. Vanya gripped onto Allison harder and somewhere in the park a statue shattered scaring a homeless man. As soon as Luther stood up holding Klaus bridal-style Diego’s coat slipped and they saw his feet. Diego turned away swiftly swallowing thickly. Klaus’s left foot was- it was- crushed. Dried blood caked the misshapen lump that had once been his brothers foot it now more closely resembled _meat._

Five stared paralyzed at Klaus’s foot. There was no way Klaus had done that to himself. At this point he doubted even a scorned dealer had done this (ashamedly his first thought). No this was someone much much worse. Much more insidious. Diego had quickly looked away and Luther had lost almost all color and was trying to restrain himself from squeezing Klaus to his chest too tight. Luther held Klaus as if just touching him would hurt him, Luther was well aware of what his strength could do if he wasn’t careful.

Five couldn’t tear his eyes away from the foot. His jaw set and eyes wide, he probably looked like a scared little boy. Her certainly felt like one. Luther cleared his throat. It broke Five’s spell.

            “Alright let’s get moving” he said with about twice the confidence he felt. In all his years, he had never seen an injury like that. “Mister ah-?”

“Just- um just Andrew is fine.”

“Right then Andrew thank you for returning our brother to us. We will be going now.”

“hey wait-“ Andrew reached out a hand to stop Luther from getting into the car Five could have sworn he heard Luther actually growl when the hand got too close to where Klaus’s head was tucked in his elbow. Five wanted to laugh, Luther growling was _funny_ but god if he started laughing now he’d be crying like the little boy he appeared to be. Though it may have been the thunder from the impending rain storm, they needed to get home and fast Klaus did not need to be caught in the rain on top of- everything. Andrew backed off a few steps before continuing, “hey- whoa, look I don’t mean to pry but if you really are going to take him back to- your mom? Then maybe I should tag along? Like I said I’m no doctor but, I can take orders, I was a marine- it’s just” He chewed his lip “an extra set of hands is an extra set of hands… right?” Luther glanced at Diego who glanced at Five who shrugged and retreated to the car and away from The Foot.

“He has only helped us so far.” So the Hargraves Family piled into their van with their new friend who had saved their brother and unknown to anyone a very very angry and heavily swearing Ben followed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhhhhhh! 
> 
> I don't currently have as nice a cushion as I would like to be frank with you (its 1500 words). I feel as though you're all catching up! in the next chapter the caretaking begins which is where it is AT for me. I love that shit. 
> 
> Hey you just read this 
> 
> and this is crazy 
> 
> but there's a comment box
> 
> so write in it maybe?


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is brought to the house and a pillow nest is built.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you are! I even whump five a bit in this one. (sorta)

The Academy’s infirmary seemed the wrong place for Klaus, everyone knew how Klaus felt about hospitals and sterile places, it had always seemed so wrong to leave someone as vibrant as Klaus in a sterile white environment. Even Grace and Pogo agreed that Klaus would only panic if he woke up in the infirmary, history would support that prediction. And, having no idea what kind of trauma Klaus had endured they could only assume the risk was increased this time.

 

Instead the siblings opted to build Klaus a sort of nest in the living room floor. This also had the added bonus that there was no chance for Klaus to have a nightmare and roll out of bed onto the floor and injuring himself further. Grace produced a large queen sized mattress seemingly from nowhere and Vanya busied herself with blankets and pillows seeming to latch on to something she knew how to do. The entire house was a flurry of action there was water to be fetched and bandages to find, having an extra pair of hands in Andrew became indispensable, and he could stitch a wound almost as well as Grace. Most people had a hard time prodding around a wound in such a way, Andrew didn’t seem to have that problem, and Grace was programed to do it without hesitation.

 

They cleaned and sterilized and as they worked they discovered new wounds; broken ribs, deep angry red marks that looked like they were the result of being whipped hard again and again. A broken collar bone and dislocated shoulder, on the same side. Grace confirmed Five’s diagnosis of a broken wrist, setting Klaus’s arm oh so gently down on a pillow before continuing on with cleaning and stitching wounds –prioritizing. No one wanted to think about how bad things might be when a broken wrist was not high on the priority list. Pogo had begun keeping a physical list of the injuries everyone calling out when they found another broken bone or cut deep enough to need stitches.  Diego had the morbid thought that they may have to send Vanya out to buy more towels as he threw yet another ruined one over his shoulder. It hit Reginald’s favorite arm chair. Ha.

 

They worked tensely everyone seemed to be avoiding the lower part of Klaus’s body. He had been naked except for the coat when they had found him now a small towel lay across his hips. Once they were finished they would get some pajamas on him.

 

Grace was the first of the group to move her attentions downward. Calling out to Pogo multiple times before she even got to the foot. She set bones in both legs with sickening sounds, muttering things like ‘broken femur’ and ‘compound fracture’ to Pogo, before she finally lifted his foot. The room went dead quiet. Diego froze in wrapping a bandage around Klaus’s upper arm. Alison paused in finishing her splint on his wrist. A finger splint snapped in Luther’s hand. Vanya squeezed the stress ball Pogo had given her when he had hooked her up to draw her blood, so they would have some on hand. Five’s needle froze mid-air. Andrew’s hands stilled above Klaus’s abdomen. Grace became the only moving thing as she began to examine the foot. She methodically listed out the scientific names of the bones that had been broken, or were breaking skin. Ending by simply stating;

 

“I will have to operate, we should do that last. Poor dear this leg will never be the same.” Five handed his needle abruptly to Andrew and blinked from existence. The distinct sounds of vomiting came from the upstairs bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is shortish it just seemed like the natural place to break it! Plus I haven't gotten the chance to read over and fix the next couple chunks, and I'm going to bed now. I have the next two days to myself so I might be able to get some hefty writing in or I'll sit in front of the TV and watch netflix. Its anybodies guess!! 
> 
> Leave a comment if you love me 
> 
> if you hate me do whatever.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Choices are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooh this is a hefty long chapter. I mean she a thicc girl. She technically over 1000 words (1065). 
> 
> I still feel like you guys are catching up. I almost didn't post today because I was like. I! need! more! time! but I have a 2000 word cushion so I guess I'm fine.

One of the wonderful things about Grace was that she did not require a fully stocked OR to operate. Or any OR really, she just needed a clean surface. Her right hand contained miniature and collapsible versions of any standard OR tool, one of the few helpful things Sir Reginald Hargraves had done for his children. It was decided by Pogo and Grace that the operation would be the absolute last thing they did, they needed to make sure Klaus was stable and safe before they installed the needed rods and screws to put his foot back together. Even with Grace and a heavy amount of hardware Pogo silently worried that Klaus would lose the foot. The boy certainly wouldn’t be walking any time soon.

 

The family finished cleaning and bandaging in silence. They appeared to be done, with the exception of Klaus’s left foot which was still laid gently on a pillow covered carefully with the softest towels they had in the manor. Diego sat back wiping his forehead with the back of his arm and tossing another ruined towel onto the large pile at the foot of the armchair. Diego let his eyes scan over his brother, Klaus looked so very small nestled in the numerous pillows. His body was nearly as white as the bandages except in the places where deep ugly bruises peeked out from underneath the gauze. He looked so so tiny, so so frail. An oxygen mask had been gently looped over his gaunt face, a nasal cannula was set off to the side for if- _when_ Klaus woke. Pogo and Grace had decided on something called a PICC line over a traditional IV, which was inserted on Klaus’s chest rather than his ruined arms, the veins there utterly useless. When Diego had asked about it Grace had explained it went straight to his heart. Grace had gently slipped a pair of Diego’s boxers on him, Klaus didn’t wear boxers but there was way they were getting a pair of his own underwear on him so boxers it was. The clean blue fabric hung off his skeletal hips in a way that Diego couldn’t, wouldn’t, think about. When did his brother get so small?

 

Klaus was also ‘wearing’ one of Luther’s button up shirts, though it looked more like a blanket that had been wrapped around him then a shirt. One of Diego’s shirts would have been preferable size wise but Diego didn’t own anything with buttons, and they all agreed manhandling him to get a shirt over his head would be painful for everyone involved.

 

Pogo was listening to Klaus’s heart and lungs and frowning deeply.

 

“Prop him up a bit more.” Pogo ordered and Diego frowned Klaus hadn’t been breathing well the entire time they had been working.

 

“W-what’s wrong with hi-his lungs?” The stutter had returned once they had begun working, Diego hadn’t wanted to waste his concentration on his words. Diego slowly and gently re-arranged the pillows by the upper half of Klaus’s body to put him in a better position to breathe.

 

“He’s got fluid in his lungs. It’s going to cause an upper- respiratory infection if we’re not careful,” he turned to Grace “we should install drains.” She nodded rising to go to the infirmary presumably to gather the needed supplies. “Grab a catheter while you’re in there!” Pogo called after her. Diego tried to forget the last part, of course he knew that Klaus wouldn’t be able to go anywhere on his own let alone a bathroom, but it still wasn’t something you wanted to think about in relation to your brother.

 

“D-Drains?” Diego asked, settling Klaus and smoothing back his sweaty hair.

 

“For the fluid.” Luther said dully from where he was picking up towels in a garbage bag, “it’s a chest tube right Pogo?” Pogo nodded giving Luther a look he did not seem to pick up on, “Grace will put a needle in through his side and install a tube that allows the fluid to drain.” Diego flinched and adjusted the oxygen mask. Watching the rise and fall of his brother’s frail and sickly chest, too slow and shaky, and not nearly deep enough. Grace appeared with a covered tray.

 

“Children, Andrew.” She smiled at their guest from where he was sat on the couch near the foot of the mattress towel hanging limply from his hands, “Why don’t you all get some rest and clean up while I operate?” Diego hesitated hands fidgeting to find a place to rest on Klaus that was not injured. He badly wanted to touch his brother, of the seven of them Klaus always sought physical affection the most. Always wanting to cuddle or sit in someone’s lap. Five took the least injured hand and begun the gently rub his thumb over the back of it, biting his lip. It was rare to see such emotion from Five, but Klaus did that to people. Brought out the emotion in them. They all felt protective of Klaus, there was something about him that induced that in everyone he met. And it wasn’t just his current state, perhaps it was the passive nature of his powers, or Klaus’s own raw kindness, or even how small he seemed, limbs always thin and gangly like a little bird. They all seemed to hesitate Allison grabbing Luther with one hand, a piece of his jacket pinched between her thumb and forefinger, looking hesitantly at Klaus. Andrew broke the silence.

 

“I’m sure you don’t want to leave him alone, but I doubt you all want to see this either. I could stay if that would help? He won’t be alone and you all don’t have to watch them operate?” His offer was kind and hesitant enough to make them realize he recognized he was still a stranger here.

 

“That could work.” Vanya said quietly she was still rubbing the needle mark on her arm, not because it hurt but because it gave her something to do with her hands. Diego chewed his already raw lip.

“You’ll call us if anything starts to go wrong?” he asked Andrew seriously his hands coming to rest lightly in Klaus’s hair.

 

“I swear on my life I will.” Andrew said back just as seriously.  Five let out a breath and gently placed Klaus’s hand back on the pillow.

 

“Okay then, we’ll trust you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say I am amazed at the response you all have been giving me. All the comments saying 'your evil please write more' are so encouraging! What I'm saying is comments make me write faster I think. Do with that what you will and I honestly like to know what you think! Some comments inspire me to include something, like in this chapter when Pogo worries about Klaus losing the foot? thats from you guys! 
> 
> Also I would like to say my medical knowledge is very limited but I did sooome googling to make sure I was defining a PICC line right. I have no actual idea if it would be used in this situation in real life.


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther and Diego have a discussion and for once it's not a euphemism for fighting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh this chapter is ANGSTY and EMOTIONAL 
> 
> also Luther might be a bit out of character but I made him nice so this is how he SHOULD behave.

The siblings gathered in the entry hall Vanya shot one last nervous smile at Andrew as Grace came and slid the doors shut, bending slightly at the waist as she did so her posture and demeanor far too happy and calm for someone who smelled of blood and antiseptic.

 

“Just a few hours children, we will let you know when we are done.” The doors closed with a dull wooden thump missing Diego’s nose by inches. Diego spun on his heel to face his tired and worn siblings scattered about the hall. Vanya deflated herself on to the bottom step and Allison left Luther’s side to be near her sister. The two had become close in the past few months often seeking each other out for comfort. Five cleared his throat;

 

“About that shower…” and with a flash of blue light he was gone, presumably to one of the manors multitude of bathrooms. Diego leaned against the wall by the doors and slid down it to the floor. Vanya broke the heavy silence.

 

“We should all get washed and re-group.” Diego nodded but didn’t move. “There are more than enough bathrooms… we should all just pick one and meet back here.” She added somewhat needlessly. Allison stood and started up the stairs turning back when Vanya didn’t follow immediately. Vanya hesitated before tapping her thighs twice with her palms and standing to follow Allison, who shot Luther a look that he was bound to ignore before retreating to claim a bath. Luther cleared his throat leaning casually against the banister, observing Diego who had curled and slumped himself by the wall as if he had never seen such a thing before in his life.

 

“You should grab a bath, I’ll stay here in case something happens.” He said with a tone that didn’t expect argument.

 

“Why? Can’t fit that hairy monkey ass in a shower stall?”

 

“Diego-“

 

“Don’t- Luther. Don’t.” Diego didn’t have the patience for this, he didn’t have energy to dedicate to Luther or any of his siblings that weren’t Klaus. And that included Diego himself.

 

“He’s my brother too.” Luther said sadly, taking a seat on the bottom step, leaning his heavy shoulder against the banister, “There is nothing you can do right now, you’ve done all you can- more than enough. Shower. Rest. Be ready to be there when he wakes up.”

 

“Nothing I can do but you are somehow fit to stay here?” Diego shot back standing quickly and moving his stance to his toes, ready to move, ready to fight. Luther wins by strength he wins by agility.

 

“I won’t be useful once he wakes up.” Luther calmly stated, never moving but following Diego wearily with his eyes. Diego honestly wasn’t expecting that.

 

“What?”

 

“Look- Dee, you know Klaus best. You were always the closest to him-“

 

“Except for Ben.” Diego cut him off in hopes it would stop him from talking, stop him from being right.

 

“Right whatever,” Luther brushed past the comment Ben and Klaus had been a different level of close. They had all loved Ben but Klaus and Ben had been joined at the hip, despite his power and his claims to be able to see Ben, Klaus had taken Ben’s death the hardest shutting down completely and leaving only a few weeks after the funeral.  “I stayed here you went out there. I know you picked him up a couple of times, bailed him out. Whatever- whoever did that to him he’s going to need you to be there when he wakes up. I can’t be there, not- not in that way.”

 

“We’re both his brothers.” Diego said hesitantly, relaxing his stance. Because they were. Both grew up in the same house, both cared, were both responsible for… certain things, certain behaviors, overlooking certain things. All of it, they shared that.

 

“It doesn’t mean we’re equal. Diego. I can stand watch, I can guard him that’s what he needs from me. What he needs from you is… something that is much harder to give. A different kind of strength.”

 

“Now you just sound like a fortune cookie.”

 

“Whatever, just please Diego.” Luther never said please, he only gave orders. Diego nodded and headed for the stairs. Feeling more inclined to do as he was told when he was asked to rather than ordered.

 

“Promise me one thing.” He said without looking back as he passed his brother on the stairs, “When we find the fucker who did this we take them down. Together.”

 

“You can be the one to kill them, I promise Diego.”

 

“No.”

 

“No?”

 

“The minute any of us see them they’re dead. No, bullshit no bargaining over who gets the killing blow we just kill them. No hesitations, no egos I don’t want them on this earth one second longer than they have to be.” And with that Diego made his way to a vacant bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okiee!!! I know there isn't a lot of whump / Klaus in these chapters but there are only a few more that are like this before Klaus wakes up! 
> 
> next up is Diego and Vanya having some good ole' fashioned feelings together. 
> 
> Comment what you think! (please?)


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego and Vanya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you are <3 ok so I don't know how I'm going to split the next few chunks up, on Sat through Sun I am going to be traveling again so I might not get to post! Sorry! This does not happen every weekend I promise!

After his shower Diego did feel better. He didn’t feel ready to make his way back to the hall, and there was no way that Grace and Pogo were finished, so he headed towards Klaus’s room. He was hoping to find some sort of comfort item or something he could offer Klaus to make him more comfortable, instead he found Vanya.

 

She was standing in the middle of the room looking at the celling eyes unfocused and clouded in white, her arms were by her sides her fingers wide, a few of Klaus’s books and trinkets floated gently through the air almost like they were dancing. There were tears running down her face. Diego paused in the frame of the door, this was odd, he had never seen Vanya’s powers manifest in such a gentle way before. He cleared his throat not wanting to watch her in secret any longer, it felt wrong and intrusive. Several items crashed to the floor, although nothing broke.

 

“Oh! I’m sorry I was just-“

 

“It’s okay V, I’m thinking we had the same idea.”

 

“I wanted to find something to make him feel more comfortable.”

 

“Same here, any luck?” Diego decided not to mention what he saw, they both knew he had seen the white in her eyes. He didn’t mention it but he certainly made sure to remember it.

 

“No.” She shook her head sadly, “I haven’t really looked much yet to be honest.”

 

“That’s fine let’s look together, careful with the stuffed animals though, I know he used to hide drugs in some of them.”

 

“Didn’t he get rid of all his stashes?” Diego gave her a look of sad and mournful doubt. “Yeah, no you’re right.” Together they began to pitter through the mass of objects in Klaus’s room. The blanket and pillow had already been taken down to him, along with almost every pillow in the house. Vanya looked through some old books examining the spines before selecting a few.

 

“I doubt he’ll be up to reading.” Diego said grabbing a frankly creepy doll from the floor it was a small fuzzy thing with eyes and… teeth.

 

“Oh! I thought I might read to him? I used to do it when he was sick as a kid, or hurt on missions. He liked it, sometimes I would play for him too… he said it drowned them out.” She frowned at that slightly. Diego nodded, they couldn’t really unpack that now, but they would have to sometime, probably soon. Thinking back Klaus was often in the infirmary or confined to bed by Mom later once his feelings about the infirmary were made abundantly clear. He was injured on missions a lot his powers didn’t help him defend himself much and he wasn’t much for fighting. In addition to this he had been ill fairly regularly. He briefly remembered Klaus mentioning once that he didn’t have the best immune system, their father had never looked into it though and once he was out from the academy Klaus had been too busy with other purists to look into it, but now there was no reason not to.

 

Diego grabbed Klaus’s old iPod and headphones knowing Klaus was rarely without them, Diego was beginning to formulate a theory why. He found them thrown on the bedside table as if they had been in use right before Klaus had gone to bed, next to them set carefully aside were a pair of dog-tags Klaus almost never went without. He must have been in such a hurry after the nightmare he had left them. The whole room seemed like Klaus had just been here, it felt like he would appear at the door any minute hair in a towel and whine at them for messing with his stuff, hell the fairy lights were still on.  Diego ran his finger over the metal of the dog tags;

 

Name: David Katz

Birthdate: February 5, 1938

O +

173rd Airborne Brigade

Jewish

 

Diego frowned he had no idea why Klaus had been wearing the dog tags of an 80-year-old Jewish man, but they seemed important to him so he grabbed those too. He turned to Vanya who had collected a small pile of books and a few CDs, magazines and even the creepy doll thing Diego had abandoned, she had pulled an old worn quilt from seemingly nowhere. She was staring curiously at the fairy lights.

 

“That it ya think?” He asked.

 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. We should maybe head back. If anyone makes a trip out in the next few days for supplies we should pick some of those up.” She gestured to the lights with her shoulder.

 

“Christmas lights? Why?”

 

“We could string them around the living room banisters, I know he likes to sleep with them on, he hates the dark, but can’t sleep in full light.” Diego nodded thoughtfully.

 

“Someone should make a supplies run, anyways. We’re almost out of bandages and his will need to be changed eventually. Plus I think we don’t have any soft food for him to eat, like oatmeal.” Vanya scrunched up her nose leading Diego back towards the foyer.

 

“I _hate_ oatmeal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 things: 
> 
> 1\. The thing Diego picked up is a Fuggler, look it up Klaus would 100% own one (I want one). They are like stuffed animals but really creepy. 
> 
> 2\. I made it so Dave was 30 in 1968, and therefor 81 if he had lived until 2019. I did not read the comics (yet) so Dave's info is mostly made up, I did google what info would be on a dog tag and included some of it also in finding info on the years I found that it seems like Dave was Jewish so I included that (it would actually be on a dog tag apparently) I also made him a universal donor ( I think I did) 
> 
> Ok maybe a third thing: I do not know how I am going to split up what I have so far as there is one chapter sized chunk and another one that's like a half chapter would you prefer I do what I did last time I was traveling and try to update twice tomorrow to give you extra? 
> 
> Comment your thoughts! 
> 
> oh PS: a lot of you have shoed interest in the Service Dog idea so I do plan on writing one. After this fic becomes less demanding, currently I only have energy for 1 fic at a time!


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hargraves argue (surprise surprise)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty this is the last chapter before you see Klaus again (yay) 
> 
> Also I have decided that I will give you a little mini chapter tomorrow morning and then you will get a bigger update on either Sunday or Monday

 

The siblings all gathered in the foyer with wet hair and a small collection of seemingly random items. Allison had a bottle of aggressively pink nail polish,

 

“He always tried to steal this color from me, I thought I could paint his nails? It might be nice?” She laughed without humor rolling the bottle between her long elegant hands. “I dunno.” Allison had also grabbed a stuffed rabbit from her room, as well as one of her softer pink throws, and an oversized sweater that Diego could have sworn he had seen Klaus wear before. Five had seemingly been busy, he had with him several throw blankets and a few pillows they had missed the first time around. He had also somehow found a pair of very soft looking pjamma pants that looked like they would be about Klaus’s size. Luther had nothing having been in the foyer the entire time. They collected their findings into one pile and took back up their seats from before they had split up to bathe and collect their weird sort of offerings. Vanya was the one to break the silence,

 

“Me and Diego were thinking whoever goes out to get bandages should also pick up some fairy lights like Klaus has in his room.”

 

“Oh? What for?” Five asked furrowing his little brow, as if he couldn’t imagine why someone would ever buy such a thing.

 

“Klaus doesn’t like to sleep in the dark.” Everyone nodded and the conversation died as they began to separately descend into what the dark must mean for their ghost torn brother.

 

“And some soft food like soup or something.” Diego added softly, to pull himself and his siblings from the spiral. He pulled out a knife and began to toss it in the air and catch it, staring off into the wall.

 

“I’ll go, after they’re done in there.” Luther said hoarsely, he hadn’t moved an inch from where Diego had left him before, Diego nodded at his brother.

 

“No you should stay here, we still don’t know what happened and you’re the best fighter we’ve got.” Five said dismissively, “I’ll go, it will take a shorter amount of time.”

 

“No you should stay here.” Luther insisted.

 

“Luther-“

 

“Five, drop it. I don’t think Klaus is in any immediate danger.”  Five glared at Diego’s comment, and at Diego himself.

 

“And what reason do you have to think that?”  Diego shrugged.

 

“They let him go, my bet this is a psychological long game. Or they couldn’t get what they wanted out of him. I doubt they want him back.”

 

“He could have escaped we don’t know that.” Five countered rounding on Diego.

 

“On _that_ foot? I doubt it.” At the mention of the foot the conversation died.

 

“We should both go.” Luther said ultimately, “In the event that they did want something they couldn’t get from Klaus we should move in pairs in case they try to grab one of us next.”

 

“But that doesn’t make any sense, right?” Vanya spoke up, seeming to be hesitant to speak on the topic, tenting her long and calloused fingers together and resting her forearms on her knees, “I mean it seems morbid but why not just…” she seemed unable to go on and gestured erratically with her hands, “ya know… kill him? Why risk him coming back to warn us?” She had a point. A really good point, it dissolved them.

 

“Maybe they thought he’d die of exposure, he was naked.”

 

“Do we have any idea how long he was out there for?”

 

“Andrew said that…”

 

“Why would they just dump him Vanya is right!”

 

“Maybe they thought he was dead.”

 

“How dumb are you? They are smart enough to do _that_ without killing him and can’t take a pulse?”

 

“Maybe he escaped after all.”

 

“That’s not possible.”

 

They were all talking over each other. Vanya looked sorry for what she had apparently started, it wasn’t her fault they were like this though. The arguing went on until it was impossible to tell who was saying what. It was so so loud.  Vanya suddenly cried out suddenly slipping her hands over her ears,

 

“Be quiet! Please! I don’t know what I’m going to do with all this noise when I’m already this upset!” Allison put her hand on Vanya’s shoulder and she jumped. They all took a collective breath and then Five spoke gently.

 

“Luther is right, but so is Diego. We should move in pairs, but it is unlikely that whoever did this is looking for Klaus, I think it’s far more likely they know exactly where he is.” Allison nodded now giving soothing motherly rubs to Vanya’s shoulder.

 

“Luther and I will go to the store later, first we need to wait for Grace and Pogo to finish… whatever they have to finish, so we can ask them what we need to get. The rest of you will stay here and be ready to comfort Klaus.”

 

“And find out what happened.” Five added. Diego glared at him.

 

“Mom is trying to piece back together what’s left of his foot and you want to interrogate him?”  Five pressed his lips tight together.

 

“Don’t mistake me for being insensitive, we need to know who did this in order for me to deal with it.”

 

“Yeah bu-“ The living room doors slid open cleanly before Deigo could take the argument any further.

 

“Children!” Grace greeted, she had blood down her front and spattered on her right hand caught in the cracks that sealed the instruments within. She smiled with the kindest smile ever to be displayed on a humanoid face. “We are all done, he should wake in a few hours.” The Hargraves gathered in a huddle to enter the living room and face whatever they found there. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooohhhhhhhh
> 
> I know it doesn't seem like it was very long that Pogo and Grace were working but things must move forward. 
> 
> I actually have very little to say in today's notes. 
> 
> So you all have to say something in the comments to make up for it I guess.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mini chapter to hold you until Sunday or Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take this my children and be frustrated at both the cuteness and the presence of Andrew

Andrew hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch Klaus was now covered up to his chest with a duvet. Pillows surrounded him on all sides propping up the injured areas. There were a lot of pillows propping him up, he was probably barely touching the mattress. Tubes and wires were woven gently away from his body to the IV stand attached to the port in his chest and the heart monitor, and the oxygen… and several other things that Pogo must have taught them about at one point…

 

Allison and Vanya and oddly enough Five busied themselves with cocooning Klaus gently in the additional blankets and pillows they had brought. Allison slipped the fuzzy pink throw around his shoulders while Vanya tucked the quilt from Klaus’s room next to him. Five jumped around the room treating the fluffing of various pillows like he was cleaning a rifle, efficient and serious. Luther stood strong leaning against one of the pillars placing himself consciously or not between Klaus and the door. Diego hung back for a moment before taking up a spot on Klaus’s right slipping his frail pale hand into his own rough tan one.

 

“The operation went well.” Pogo said as he tied off a blue biohazard bag. The rest of the siblings settled down Vanya curling herself on Klaus’s other side by his head so she was half sitting on the mattress, Allison knelt behind the head of the bed leaving Five to settle by Klaus’s feet. Sitting cross-legged on the floor Five looked more like a child then usual.  Pogo went on, “We aren’t sure when he will wake, he was already pretty heavily sedated, it’s probably due only to his… tolerance… that he did not Over Dose. We will have to wait a few hours for it to clear fully before we start a morphine drip, normally I wouldn’t give him anything but it would be inhumane to now.”

 

“He was drugged when we picked him up?” Luther asked interest peaked. Diego had to restrain himself from squeezing Klaus’s hand.

 

“Yes. Heavy sedatives.”

 

“So it could have been a dealer…” Luther trailed off, Diego wanted to scream at how quickly he threw Klaus under the blame for his current situation. Five responded before he could.

 

“I doubt it.” Five scoffed eyes trailing to Klaus’s left leg which was clearly bulkier than the other hidden under the blankets were probably many bandages and splints and stitches.

 

“Why?”

 

“Have you ever met a dealer?”

 

“No have you?”

 

“Yeah, I’ve even killed a few. My point is a dealer would have either killed him or just beaten him up, whoever did this _maimed_ him and was smart enough to use extra sedatives to keep him down.”

 

“What’s your theory then?”

 

“This is someone who wants all of us dead. A Professional, hell it could even be the commission.”  Just at that moment Andrew cleared his throat and they all turned to look at him, having forgotten his presence easily in their own banter.

 

“When I found him, I thought he was drunk.” He began, “it’s possible this was some sort of drug party gone wrong.” He paused, “I used to have this friend, he died a few years ago- I think from what you all are saying he was a lot like Klaus. Anyways from what he told me crack parties could go pretty awry, high people do dumb stuff… often to other high people.” He nodded sympathetically at Klaus.

 

“We-We can’t assume that’s what happened we owe that to him.” Diego said looking at Klaus’s face, his pale bruised skeletal face.

 

“Ok.” Vanya said, looking very unsure of herself. “Can you tell us exactly what happened? Andrew?”

 

“Sure, I was going on my morning run and…” Andrew told the story seemingly unbothered by the very angry ghost hurling curses at him. Not that he could see Ben though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Klaus will wake up in the next chapter ;) 
> 
> Give me comments to sustain me on my journey back to school.


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eyes open

 

It had been about Two days. Two days of watching Klaus sleep being dead still and unmoving but for the fragile rise and fall of his lungs taking in air. During that time Andrew had been quite helpful, going out to get takeout for the rest of them when they couldn’t bear to leave Klaus, even going along with Allison and Luther on their shopping trip, he seemed wholly un-bothered by the entire ‘Umbrella Academy’ thing, and he didn’t even ask questions about their childhood. Instead he chatted pleasantly giving them stories from his own to focus on, distracting them all from the reality laying on the mattress before them. He was an only child with a relatively normal upbringing, to kids who grew up in a house full of other children fighting crime his life was endlessly fascinating. He had a dog growing up, a golden retriever named Spot, despite the fact Andrew sheepishly admitted he had no spots. He was nice and sweet and very gentle when he changed bandages, and he could stitch a wound with a quality that would make a professional seamstress blush. 

 

As far as Diego was concerned he was all set to marry Klaus off to this guy, Andrew had sheepishly admitted to them that he had a crush on Klaus growing up. He apparently, found the powers of the séance endlessly fascinating as a child, which was odd many of their fans in the early days had looked over Klaus’s gifts, they weren’t flashy or anything, and a bit morbid. Diego was proud to know his brother had always had a fan out there.  Plus, if Klaus ever got hurt Andrew could fix him up, Diego thought it was a perfect match. Allison must have too because she joked that when Klaus was better he should thank Andrew by taking him on a date. Andrew had turned beet red and excused himself to the bathroom.

 

Diego was holding Klaus’s hand. They were all gathered around his bed again in the same positions they had been before, they had become their un-official stations, with Luther sitting behind Allison on the couch still between Klaus and the door. Luther had been awkward, but loving over Klaus’s treatment so far, when he had gone out with Andrew and Allison he had even purchased a small stuffed cow which was now tucked by Klaus’s side, smiling up at him. The chatter had died again, as it did when one was keeping vigil. Diego was rubbing his thumb across Klaus’s raw knuckles and Vanya was reading out loud to the room from an old book of fairy tales, the originals, Klaus always liked the ones that had really gruesome bits.

 

Klaus’s fingers twitched and Diego sat up bolt straight, staring intently at his hand clasped around Klaus’s. Vanya stopped reading and they all drew in a collective breath, those further off from the mattress drawing closer as they did so. Diego didn’t need to speak in order for them to know what was happening. The fingers twitched again and began to curl slowly around Diego’s.

 

“Klaus? Buddy are you with me?” Klaus’s eyes flitted open and hazed around the room, then he started to scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shoot this chapter is not as long as I thought it was is it? It's actually a bit on the short end dang. As you know by now though I love a Good Cliffhanger so I just... had to end it there. I was in the car all day so forgive me. 
> 
> here is a fun fact this document for this story on my computer is 55 pages long and 14854 words long. This may be the longest thing I've ever written. Whoot Whoot. 
> 
> I love reading your comments and I even go through to see what people put in when they bookmark it, I am just tickled pink that people are interacting with my story. It's a wonderful feeling, I try to respond to a lot of the comments but if I can't think of anything clever to say... 
> 
> Keep it Saucy I will see you tomorrow (Where Klaus gets to tell this from his side :3)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up to a world not as pleasant as your nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooops this is angsty AF

Klaus was hazy and warm. The familiar feeling of being cocooned in drugs was one he welcomed with open arms. At times, he could hear bits of things, but it didn’t make any sense to him, he heard his siblings, and he heard Andrew and at first it struck fear into his heart. He had them too. But the closer to the surface he got, the more confused he was they sounded… pleasant, the familiar hug of his family chatting endlessly, banter and argument mixed liberally with the raw fear and hurt Andrew’s voice brought to him. And pain. Incredible pain came if he even neared the surface of his consciousness. Pogo was a bastard if he had denied him anything for the pain. Klaus retreated deeper into himself to escape the pain. He didn’t tolerate pain well, he didn’t tolerate anything well. His father had always said so. Joke was on him though because he had been building his alcohol tolerance up for years now.

 

With retreating he began to feel guilty, his siblings were out there. With that monster. His father must have been right he was too self-obsessed to even face pain to warn them. He pushed towards the surface again, finding it less painful this time. Pogo must have relented. 

 

“Klaus? Buddy are you with me?” Diego’s voice swam into his ears and his eyes opened. He was in the living room of the Academy, not the infirmary thank god. His siblings were all there… 1…. 2… 3… 5….6….7. Yup all there and accounted for and seemingly in good health (if you excused Ben’s dead-ness).

 

His eyes landed on the other person in the room who was not unfamiliar to him but unwelcome, in his rush to tell his siblings everything all that came out was a scream. A strangled cry of intense and horrible pain. Diego’s hand was in his and Klaus gripped it tight trying to put everything he had to say into his grip. To him the grip was shattering life wrenching, white knuckled tightness, it even hurt, Deigo felt a faint squeeze. There was something on his face, blocking his words; he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t warn them not with this thing corking it inside him! It was an oxygen mask, he concluded after a panicked minute, only made worse with the beeping from somewhere behind his head. With his other hand he tried and failed to reach for it twisting his shoulder which painfully reminded him his collar bone was probably broken;

 

_Klaus was laying on cement floor of the basement besides his foot and his ribs he was un-injured –oh yeah Klaus you can discredit those just fine those are minor –he shook off the voice of reason in his head which sounded suspiciously like Ben. Andrew was coming back._

_“Have a nice little nappy did we?” Klaus wished his mouth wasn’t taped he would have told Andrew that ‘nappy’ was the British word for diaper. And he very clearly didn’t have one of those, there was a urine stain on one of his favorite thongs to prove it. He would have also told Andrew that he hadn’t slept. At all. Only passed out once from pain and woken up. Andrew grinned like a Joker in a deck of cards. “Even so,” He said as if he could hear Klaus’s inner bitching, “Back to business.” He put his boot on Klaus’s chest and grabbed his left shoulder which seemed like a child’s in his large hand, Klaus was almost amused, in another life he would have found Andrew very attractive, he and pulled upward. Klaus heard a snap and a pop. “My god you are sooo bony I can pick out which ones I want to break” Andrew traced his finger across Klaus’s now discordant collar bone, “Are your siblings the same way? The big one has too much meat but that little girly… the one who wrote that trashy book? She looks like I might be able to pick out her bones too.” Klaus whimpered…_

The whimper carried over to the present and he was pulled out of his unwelcome memory by a nasal cannula being looped around his ears.

 

“Hey, hey. Bud, you gotta breathe okay? I took the mask off but you need to breathe. Here do it with me.” Diego took Klaus’s right hand, the one where only his wrist was broken, and placed it on his own chest and exaggerated his breathing for Klaus to follow. Shakily.

 

 He calmed easy at the motion. It was familiar the rise and fall of a chest luring him into calm. Ben had done this for him a few times when he was still breathing, sometimes now he would force himself to make audible breaths so Klaus could follow. His eyes closed, “Still awake?” Diego asked not able to keep the lilt of hope out of his words, Klaus nodded. Andrew had just been a flashback. He had those. Often. He wasn’t really here. He opened his eyes. And just like that snapped them shut again. No

 

No

 

No no no

 

Please no.

 

Please God no.

 

She must really hate him.

 

“Hey, Klaus what is it? Is it the light? is the light bothering you?” Klaus shook his head. “Are you in pain.” Klaus lied and shook his head, he was in some pain but it was ok… he’d had worse… hadn’t he?... no but he could manage this… “… Look I can fix it… or find someone who can but you gotta tell me.” Diego urged still holding his hand in both of his against his chest. Klaus opened his eyes and met Andrew’s horrible gaze, how could they not know? Those eyes were not the eyes of a man with nothing to hide, they brought a icy sort of pain into Klaus’s chest where it curled among the other sorts of pain that could always be found there. No one was looking at Andrew, they were all looking at him, even Ben but that didn’t matter, Ben knew.  Andrew raised an eyebrow not breaking the concern masked on his face to do so. God he must be such a good actor to have gotten in here with that, or his siblings were really just that dumb.

 

 Klaus tried, he really did but the words stuck in his throat, they wouldn’t come, couldn’t come. He pulled his hand away from Diego and managed to make his finger point shakily and imperfect around the bandages masking his movement. He leveled his finger at Andrew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we gooooo!!! 
> 
> The last sentence of this chapter almost didn't get copied OMG that would have been hella bad! 
> 
> I am very tired and it took me longer than normal to write my 1000 words on this I try to add before I post every night. I also did a lot of editing so that is probably why. 
> 
> Give me comments to feed me I turn them into pages on this story, which is now 60 pages and 16030 words. Woah.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus talks to his siblings (but not too much they are the Hargraves after all)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooo doggy this is a looong chapter which is good, because I am soooo busy recently I may not be able to update every single day, I'm going to try but I have a busy week.
> 
> Also Klaus talks kind weird in this chapter bc I thought he would be slurring a bit or unable to get the words out right.

_Klaus tried, he really did but the words stuck in his throat, they wouldn’t come, couldn’t come. He pulled his hand away from Diego and managed to make his finger point shakily and imperfect around the bandages masking his movement. He leveled his finger at Andrew._

 

* * *

 

 

He turned his head to Diego and made an urgent whining sound finger still pointing. Diego looked confused,

 

“Andrew? Why-“

 

“No I get it.” Andrew said rising, an easy smile pulling across his face Klaus whimpered again. He could almost see the white of his teeth, which were just another edge, a sharpness for Andrew to drive into him, “I’m a stranger, he probably wasn’t expecting to wake up and meet someone new, it’s okay I’ll step out for a bit does anyone need anything?”

 

“No, we’re ok could you get Grace in the kitchen and send Pogo down though?” Luther asked ever polite, even to the man who had nearly killed Klaus. Maybe that was why he was being so polite to him. Klaus didn’t know, his breathing was too fast, everything was too fast, he was scared. “Also I know Grace made some broth earlier for Klaus could you maybe heat that up for him? if Grace agrees, I know we’ve been giving him nutrients through the IV bu-“ Klaus began to scramble further into a sitting position ignoring the pain that shot down every ligament and nerve that moved –he had to examine his arms,- the IV? They left it _in?_ They were going to let Andrew touch his food?!? Trying to sit up more had the added benefit of distancing him from Andrew. If only by a few inches

 

“Hey- Woah easy there.” Diego again, jumping to catch Klaus who was in no state to be moving as much as he seemed to be trying to. “You can’t move that much, you’re really badly hurt you need to stay still and rest.” Diego sounded so genuine but all Klaus could do was make high pitched noises at him in distress and pain, where was his voice? There was a sudden moment of panic that Andrew had taken it. Trying to move his whole body had been a mistake. His left thigh and hip ached terribly for it, what had Andrew even used there? _An exercise weight._ His mind helpfully supplied. _Dropped it on you again and again with horrible accuracy, even told you it took 4,000 newton’s to break a human femur. Fascinating_. His foot was blessedly numb.  

 

Andrew nodded at Luther to show he understood how his sentence was going to end and ducked into the foyer. Smoothly, he was so god-damn smooth -god why was he here? Klaus’s exhausted and abused body forced him to relax when Andrew left, a reflex.

 

“Can I get some help here?” Diego asked the room, unable to move lest Klaus fall into a heap, he was awkwardly supporting Klaus from behind a hand on his good shoulder and another on the back of Klaus’s neck, carefully yet awkwardly avoiding injuries. Vanya and Allison stepped forward and helped move Klaus gently back to his previous position, tucking pillows back around him. How easily they un did what had felt to Klaus to be a herculean effort. Klaus reached to his throat hand clumsily searching for a wound, in doing so his sleeve slipped over his hand and hit him in the face. He made a small ‘umph?’ noise, He was wearing _Luther’s shirt._

 

“Can you talk?” Diego asked resting his hand on Klaus’s forearm. Klaus tried to clear his throat and it turned into a deep and horrible cough. By the time he had finished choking on his own throat Pogo had appeared with a glass of water and a straw on a silver tray. He set the tray down and handed the glass to Vanya on his left.

 

“Slow sips, don’t let him take too much we don’t know if he’ll keep it down.” Pogo warned. Vanya guided the straw into his mouth, he was already almost sitting against the pillows so he didn’t need to be readjusted I order to drink. The catch he felt in his lungs when he coughed told him why he was practically upright. He had faced lung infections before, living on the streets as a scrawny junkie with a cigarette between his lips had landed him in the ER with or close to pneumonia several times, he had also had it twice as a child, even then he couldn’t remember his siblings being this worried. He certainly couldn’t member them being gathered over him as he coughed until he cried. Then later in the ER there had only been nurses whose faces he was too high or feverish or dope-sick to see, asking him tiredly if he was alright.

 

He forced himself to only take a few halting sips at a time, he wanted to gulp at the water to claw it from his sister’s hands and pour it down his throat. The water was cold but not horribly so. It was amazing, he hadn’t realized how thirsty he was. Vanya pulled it gently away after he had barely gotten to a third of the glass. He took a few breaths and allowed himself to look around, trying to remind himself he was among people who wouldn’t let Andrew hurt him, he wished he could drink something stronger than water to slow his racing thoughts, why was Andrew here? How long was he out for? He took a few deep breaths, or tried to, he ended up coughing again. Vanya gave him a few more sips of water and he didn’t try to take any more deep breaths.

 

He was in the living room of the academy, the lights were low and around the banisters, were… fairy lights? Had those always been there? His siblings were scattered around his bed which appeared to be in the center of the floor, he was as comfortable as he could hope to be, there were blankets, and pillows and even a few stuffed animals tucked around him like a great nest. Various medical equipment was strewn about, including an IV stand though he could feel no port in his hand or elbow. There must be a heart monitor somewhere behind him because he could hear it. Ben was there, because he always was, steady and true, constant. He was perched on the back of a couch looking down over the scene. He was frowning, which Klaus didn’t think was very fair, he had been asleep, surely he had done nothing wrong? Klaus shivered suddenly, despite all the blankets. Allison’s hand cupped his forehead suddenly, with a gentleness Klaus had known she possessed but had never been on the receiving end of…

 

“His fever is up again.” She said worriedly, wiping uselessly at his hair, Klaus was unsure if it made any difference but he appreciated the effort. Pogo nodded sagely, and moved behind him to check something on the monitors or other equipment. Allison tucked a pink throw closer around his shoulders. Klaus tried his voice again, and this time though broken and whisper-like it was there.

 

“What- Wha’ happen’?” He slurred -well it was better than nothing. Klaus knew what happened on his side but he was hesitant to launch into his tale without knowing the other side first. His sibling gave each other glances, which normally Klaus would be able to interpret like a second language but he was too tired to even try, plus he didn’t have the best vantage point.

 

“We were hoping you could tell us?” Five asked from somewhere down near his feet.

 

“Me n’ Ben were wallkin’-“

 

“Ben? Is he here now?” Luther interrupted which Klaus found very rude considering all the effort they had just put in to giving Klaus a voice. Diego shot Luther a look that showed he was on Klaus’s side of this, Klaus answered the question with a little nod,

 

“Mmmph.” He looked at Vanya and the water again longingly, she let him have two more small sips.

 

“Can you manifest him?” Luther asked bluntly.

 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Diego spun to face Luther.

 

“Seriously?” Five asked irritated.

 

“No.” Klaus said simply not having the energy to engage.

 

“I just thought it might be easier to get the facts from Ben considering…”

 

“’m a total fuckin’ mess?” Klaus managed to cut him off that time. Ha.

 

“Well…”

 

“Ben an’ I were wallkin’ then I woke up in-a basement an-“ Grace entered the room with a covered tray and Andrew Klaus’s voice disappeared again mid-sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnnd I'm still mean. 
> 
> I swear I don't write cliffhangers on purpose I just get to a spot and I'm like "ahh yes a good spot to end the chapter" and they often happen to be around the 1000 word marks! it's not my fault! 
> 
> How long do you think it will be before Klaus can tell his family that the person who did this is in their house? Will Andrew ever get what he deserves? Will his family believe him? Find out between long bits of angst. 
> 
> Also tell me, does this story have a frustrating amount of suspense or do you like it? I'm not trying to like drag it out there is just a few things I want to do / include for the sake of... whump... and angst. I don't think it's getting repetitive but is it? I don't mean for it to be like.... they almost find out.... then they don't.... and they almost find out... then they don't.....they almost..... ya know? IDK I'm might be nuts!
> 
> See you guys soon! (Hopefully tomorrow?)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> annnd here you go!

_“Ben an’ I were wallkin’ then I woke up in-a basement an-“ Grace entered the room with a covered tray and Andrew Klaus’s voice disappeared again mid-sentence..._

 

* * *

 

 

“Klaus darling it is so wonderful to see you awake. Would you like some broth? I made chicken flavor, I know it’s your favorite.” She moved with clipped precision to the head of the bed, opening up the tray so it stood like a table over Klaus’s lap. Klaus looked at it so he wouldn’t have to look at Andrew, who came up so he was standing next to where Diego was seated.  Klaus hated how close he got to his brother almost more than he hated how close Andrew was to him. Almost. Andrew lowered himself down next to Diego head tilted in concern. His good arm moved to pull at the pink blanket clumsily, tucking his bad arm further into his side. More compact was more protected. Less to hit. His one advantage.

 

Grace uncovered the tray to reveal a bowl of swirling broth and a spoon.  She scooped some up and moved it to his lips, holding the spoon perfectly still in front of his lips, there was no shaking that would be there if she were human, just robotic stillness that may be odd or unsettling to some but to Klaus and his siblings it was comforting, it was mom.

 

 Klaus shook his head once. Resisting the urge to bite his lip nervously lest he give his mother an opportunity to slip the spoon into his mouth. He knew she would if he even parted a centimeter.

 

 He couldn’t eat it what if Andrew had touched it? What if he had done something to it? He couldn’t, and he couldn’t make his voice work to tell his siblings why. There were mutters of frustration and sadness coming from around the room. He stared the spoon down as Grace sighed and set it down in the bowl again.

 

“Please Klaus you need to eat something you’ve been out for two days and there’s only so much Pogo and Mom can put in your PICC line, you’re going to have to eat on your own.” Diego pleaded. PICC line? So, it wasn’t the IV Andrew had used, and Pogo and Grace had put it in. That was something at least. Klaus still squeezed his eyes shut and let a few tears wiggle their way down his cheeks, it didn’t mean he could eat the soup though. It didn’t even mean Andrew hadn’t slipped anything into his body via whatever a PICC line was, or his food. He let his hand fall back to the pillows.

 

A rough calloused hand covered his, Diego. He flipped his hand over to hold his brother’s hand. Under normal circumstances he would never be aloud this kind of comfort, but Diego was kind enough to offer it to him now. Diego’s hand gripped his tight, and then kept squeezing, he tried to squeeze back to let his brother know he was hurting him but Diego kept squeezing and he opened his eyes, to tell his brother that he needed to stop…

 

“Your brother is right Klaus, the PICC line will sustain you, we will make sure of that but if you want to get your strength back you’re going to have to eat.” Andrew urged a kind and earnest expression covering his face, but he was squeezing Klaus’s hand so hard. Just like he had done before…

 

* * *

 

 

_It had been a full three hours of beating, just being beat. Andrew seemed to like to just  beat on him and cut him up, Klaus would like to say it made a nice change from the twisting and whipping, but he would be lying. Klaus on occasion had sought out being beat or choking in the name of a good time, but that was never like this. Even Hazel and Cha-Cha hadn’t been like this, Andrew was an emotionless machine. Scratch that Klaus knew a machine with much more emotion, he called her Mom._

_Andrew was like a piece of equipment, almost like the machinery his father had built for their training obstacle courses, repetitive and merciless. Oddly enough the scar on Diego’s head had come from one of those, not a knife throwing accident. Diego never had a knife throwing accident. His father had just thought it would be a good idea to have his 14-year-old children attempt to jump through axes that were swinging back and forth. After he had left and been able to watch cartoons Klaus had laughed manically, his father used looney-toons as a blueprint he was sure of it._

_When Andrew leaned back seemingly satisfied with the new bruises and cuts he had made he knelt down next to Klaus’s right side. He took Klaus’s hand in his own and rolled the wrist around watching the bony joint work with idle fascination. It panged back a memory of Vietnam when he had been laying in secret with Dave under the stars and Dave had lifted their intertwined hands up and rolled them around to look at how their hands fit from all angles. Prompting Klaus to say something like ‘watcha’ doin’ with my hand Dave, I’m going to need that back.’ To which Dave had simply said, ‘I want to remember every time I touch you.’ Fuck, he missed Dave._

_Andrew hummed and put his other hand around Klaus’s wrist, untangling their fingers. Klaus didn’t fight it, he had given up fighting early on, it was clear that Andrew was in control. He couldn’t fight it, his father was sneering at him from the damn barber shop in the sky, he couldn’t find the energy to care._

_“What do you think would happen if I just squeezed? I want to challenge myself, not that you’re a challenge. But I’m bored, I wonder if I could break your wrist with one hand?” Andrew squeezed and squeezed it turned out with some determination he could break Klaus’s wrist with two hands by squeezing. He did the fingers with one hand though..._

 

* * *

 

Klaus was burned from his memory by hot soup being spilled in his lap. He had thrashed away from the memory and knocked over the tray, it may have been a good thing though because it surprised Andrew into letting go. Small victories. Klaus mused as his body decided that the hot soup was the final straw and he slipped back under into the black again. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooof. 
> 
> By the way I realized that I messed up numbering the chapters, did anyone notice? I'm not going to fix it because I don't really care about it that much, but because I named the first one prologue they were all 1 number behind. 
> 
> I'm going to update you on the page count and word count because I am still amazed with myself 68 pages and 18195 words hoooly shiiiiit. 
> 
> Anywho I am going to keep trying to write a 1000ish words and post every night but I may not be able to every night, like I'm going to see Endgame on Friday so... 
> 
> anyhow I will try! 
> 
> leave me a comment!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus puts it out there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this chapter is longer than I normally go but there is no place to split it! probably a good thing because I am seeing Endgame tomorrow and then have a marathon rehearsal to get through and I might just #TGIF and pass tf out before I can bang out a thousand words and post. I'm not saying that will happen just that it might.

Diego admittedly didn’t know much about the medical field. Sure, he could stitch a wound and do basic field medicine, and he knew enough to follow Mom or Pogo’s orders when one of his siblings was hurt. Diego was also new and still a stranger in the world of feelings and addressing trauma in a healthy and normal manor, to being a good brother and being comforting. Diego wished he could tell Klaus to ‘Cowboy up’ so they could move on to ignore the next horrible thing that they came upon. But they weren’t doing that anymore. Diego didn’t need to know a whole lot about much of anything to know that Klaus was not doing very well. That could have been determined by almost anyone, anyone who had even half a brain and any 2 out of the 4 senses.

 

He hadn’t thought it would be easy keeping Klaus still, but given the extent of his injuries he was hoping he would move in a less erratic manner than was normal for him. If anything he was more erratic then normal, which he hadn’t actually though possible, and was quite worrying and almost impressive. Klaus was like a scared caged animal seeming to lash at everything that reached out to him.

 

The soup mainly got on Klaus’s good shoulder, it had also completely destroyed Allison’s pink throw. Grace caught the bowl with inhuman quickness before it could spill much more. With a light popping sound Five jumped away and back with a towel so Grace could dry Klaus off, the soup had left a red blotch where it had made contact with Klaus’s pale skin. Grace set the bowl aside and instantly began to check Klaus over. Klaus had passed out again allowing Grace to touch and move him without much fuss. He did twitch every time he was moved though indicating that he was likely not as deeply unconscious as he had been before.

 

By some miracle he hadn’t ripped any stitches or managed to unset any bones. His foot had been wrapped in such a way that he would have to do something very dumb to mess with it. Like walk. Pogo also explained that they had used a nerve blocker just below the knee so Klaus wouldn’t have feeling in his foot until they let him.

 

Allison blew out a breath through her nose in frustration, for a second Diego was livid she was thinking about her blanket after what had just happened. 

 

“Mom, why is he having such a hard time talking? Did we miss an injury? Is there something wrong?” Her hands came to rest on the scar on her own throat, in the end her voice hadn’t been badly damaged, but she had sounded like a chain smoker for a few weeks. Sometimes in the morning she still sounded hoarse. The frustration had been in sympathy for Klaus.

 

“I think he may be almost going non-verbal dear.” Grace said calmly finishing her survey of Klaus and tucking the blankets back into their spots, now tucking the old quilt from Klaus’s room around his shoulders in place of the ruined pink throw. “We’re lucky I didn’t heat that soup up too much more or he would have been burned.”

 

“Non-Verbal?” Diego asked reaching to sort out his brother’s hair has best he could. It was nowhere near what Klaus would have wanted but it gave him something to do, plus Klaus liked it when people touched his hair. Klaus was like a cat almost any gentle touches were accepted.

 

“Yes, it’s when-“ Klaus himself cut her off by muttering in his sleep and blinking his eyes back open. They were hazy and unfocused and he was listing slightly off to the side, Grace quickly righted this by placing a pillow to support him.

 

“Be-?” He bleated trying rather pointlessly to blink the haze away, with a fever that high and the painkillers he would likely be blurry-eyed for a while. His eyes settled on a spot just above the couch near the foot of the bed, then followed a lazy line down to Andrew, where his face formed a horrible panicked and pained expression before his eyes moved quickly back to the spot above the couch. “I knoooo.” He pushed the ‘o’ out like a whine. He stopped abruptly and seemed to listen to the silence. The family waited, used to conversing with Ben in this manner by now, except Andrew who glanced concerned from Klaus to where Ben must be.

 

“What’s happening?” He asked Diego quietly drawing Klaus’s attention, his eyes snapped to Andrew as if he needed to be aware of everything the man did or said.

 

“You know Klaus talks to Ghosts.” Diego began Andrew nodded slowly as if beginning to connect some things in his head, “Ben, our brother, is dead he sort of follows him around. He says he could always see Ben even though other spirits would disappear when he was high.”

 

“But you don’t think so?” Andrew asked looking carefully at Klaus, with a measured expression Diego couldn’t quite place.

 

“We’re not sure.” Diego said, not daring to glance at Klaus, who didn’t actually care about that at the moment. They could debate all day if Klaus had been seeing Ben for years or months, the important thing is they believed him now. “We know drugs affect his powers pretty bad.” Klaus felt a sinking feeling every time Diego said another fact about him out loud, he knew that Andrew must have known some of these facts but he still didn’t like the steady flow of information that his family seemed so content to supply.

 

“So… why would he be able to see Ben now?” Andrew asked the genuine curiosity in his voice made all of Klaus’s hair stand up.

 

“He- He- He _was_ sober.” Klaus’s eyes widened, his less ruined hand going to the crook of his elbow. _Was._

 

“But… not anymore right?” Andrew said hesitantly glancing back to the IV stand. Diego gave Luther a helpless look as his heart sank. No. Klaus was currently full of pain killers and coming off a very possible relapse. They once again couldn’t trust him when he said he could see Ben. Klaus was looking at him now, his eyes pleading.

 

“Ben says that you’re an idiot if you trust him.” He whispered trying his best to sink further into the pillows and failing. His full weight was already on them.

 

“Klaus, we have no reason not to.” Luther said exasperated but trying to remain comforting. He ran a hand over his shaved head and came to stand by the bottom corner of the mattress.

 

“You have _every_ reason to.” Klaus sounded so broken so desperate, it made Luther wish they had another option, that they really could just ignore Klaus’s past and put their full trust behind him. He came up to Klaus and put his massive hand gently on the top of Klaus’s head, trying to communicate as best he could how protective he felt, how helpless. Klaus’s skull fit nicely into his palm, and he could feel the heat of the fever, another reason to be unsure of Ben’s presence.

 

“No you don’t.” Klaus insisted, voice growing weaker by the word.  

 

“But-“

 

“Klaus I know we’re trying- but you don’t exactly have a clean record and…”

 

“But _HE_ did this to me.” Klaus let the sentence deflate him. He had put it into the world, now it was real. There was nothing more he could do, not in this state.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do we feel about non-verbal!Klaus? I did some basic googling (and I'm a pysch major) and it does seem possible from what I know and what I could find that Klaus could have non-verbal episodes, I think they happen with PTSD and the way I described it was more as a anxiety thing and not at all like what I read online about autism related non-verbal episodes. It seems feasible, but I want to be clear that I am not saying Klaus is autistic. 
> 
> :) I may be nearing a climax in my writing of this fic, so I may end up splitting it and do a recovery sequel or I could keep it all in one IDK yet. oh and, 71 pages and 90215 (almost 20000!!) words!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargraves argue and Five is an angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there this chapter is a bit short because I chose to cut it in where I felt the natural stopping place was, sorry I missed an update, I'm having a family emergency right now and I needed to rest badly, the emergency is on going so I may not be updating as often as I have.

_“No you don’t.” Klaus insisted, voice growing weaker by the word._

_“But-“_

_“Klaus I know we’re trying- but you don’t exactly have a clean record and…”_

_“But HE did this to me.” Klaus let the sentence deflate him. He had put it into the world, now it was real. There was nothing more he could do, not in this state._

 

* * *

 

 

They all stood around in stunned silence and then they all started talking at once.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Andrew did this?”

 

“That’s not true I didn’t-“

 

“No that can’t be true! That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

 

“How can you be sure?”

 

“Maybe they just looked alike”

 

“I found-“

 

“Your confused because he found you he was the last person you saw before -“

 

“Andrew wouldn’t have helped if-“

 

“Why-“

 

“No-“

 

“Kl-“

 

“Bu-“

 

All the noise and the chatter forced Klaus’s eyes closed and he whimpered. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. They sounded like the ghosts. No. They sounded like the _mausoleum_. He couldn’t think in this storm of words. It was all so loud and Andrew was _HERE_. And he hurt.  Ignoring the pain Klaus dragged his arms upward curling his hands over his ears and around his head. The action sent a pang through his shoulder and collar bone, and pulled at his ribs and he felt cuts move and flesh re-open. He didn’t care.

Some things were more important.

 

 He was full out sobbing now big heavy hysterical sobs, that mixed with coughs and pulled at his lungs as if his body couldn’t decide. He tried to curl up pull his knees upward to his chest. His body wouldn’t let him, his vision was tunneling out.

 

He could still hear them. The ghosts, they were holding down his body they were all around him. They must be able to touch him now because they were hurting him. He was in pain, it hurt and it was so loud. They wanted him to help them but he didn’t know how. If he did didn’t they think he would do it? If he could help them move on why wouldn’t he? In that situation- in that perfect world everyone got what they wanted. The Ghosts got to move on and Klaus got peace. His power didn’t bring peace though. And father wouldn’t open the door long enough for him to explain that. He couldn’t do it. He had learned his lesson and the lesson was that he was weak! He just wanted to go home and hide somewhere until Mom or Pogo found him and told him he could take a bath. One of them was screaming now, the rest had gone silent but one was just screaming on and on endlessly…

 

* * *

 

 

They had all been talking over each other, so absorbed in what they were saying that it took them a minute to notice what was happening on the bed before them. Luther was the first to notice and tried to hush them, but that just started Diego up again and the two of them were arguing in an instant.

 

“Boys.” Grace said sharply, she rarely used the tone with them. She was programed to be gentle first and firm only as a last resort. On the occasion that she was firm it was always extremely effective and off-putting. Everyone stopped arguing but the room didn’t fall silent.

 

It didn’t fall silent because Klaus was screaming, and sobbing and coughing all at the same time. It was horrible. His body tugging him into convulsive coughs while Klaus himself tried to tug himself into a ball. He had curled his arms around his head, which must have been extremely painful given his shoulder. Grace’s hand resting lightly on his stomach seemed to be restraining him enough from trying to curl into a ball. No one seemed able to take charge, Vanya swallowed thickly and wrapped her own arms around herself, in the attic four piles of old books exploded.

 

Finally, Allison made a call and grabbed Andrew by the shoulders and forced him out. It had calmed Klaus before so it was worth a shot now, and if he really believed Andrew did this to him they shouldn’t let him be in the same room until Klaus was convinced otherwise. Five jumped himself up to the head of the bed and maneuvered himself efficiently until he was curled right next to Klaus’s head, carefully without touching him he leaned in close.

 

“Allison took him away. He’s not here, you’re safe Klaus.” It would have been a whisper if a Klaus would have been able to hear one over his own voice, it was still one of the gentlest ways Five had ever spoken. The scream faltered in it’s horrible note Klaus turned his clouded eyes to Five slowly. “You’re safe.” He said again, reaching out and tentatively taking Klaus by the wrists and removing his hands from his ears. “Rest.” He said softly moving his limbs back down to his sides. Klaus took the order and slumped exhausted into his pillows, returning to being deeply unconscious. Head slumped back on the pillow facing Five.  

 

The room was silent but for Klaus’s horrible rattle – wheeze breaths. Five remained where he was not touching Klaus but looking him over. After a bit when he was satisfied he reached over and checked Klaus’s collar bone.

 

“This needs to be re-set and we should probably restrict the movement, maybe a sling?” He said flatly. “He also seems to have ripped some stitches.” He observed, “We need to re-check all his wounds.” Luther nodded grimly.

 

“I’ll go get Andrew.”

 

“No.”  Five said shortly.

 

“No?” Luther said amazed.

 

“I believe him. Andrew is the one responsible for this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone see Endgame yet? I loved it but I cried like a little baby. 
> 
> Also, like I said before I am having a family emergency that may mean I don't post as consistently, I am near the end of my writing I think so I will finish this story (it almost has 20 chapters already like WHAT) I also do think there will be a sequel dealing more with Klaus's recovery and some other things about what Andrew was doing / why Andrew was doing it. I will likely write something else in TUA first to clear my head, probably more Klaus Whump, a proper sickfic one shot maybe who knows, I also do plan to create that Service dog fic, I'm going to finish this first definitely though. 
> 
> Also this fic is on my document 76 pages long and 20,0078 words currently, my 20,000th word was 'into' 
> 
> give me nice comments please trust me when I say I need them right now.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW IN NOTE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, its me ya' girl so this chapter has a little trigger warning before we start, that is for MENTION OF RAPE / NON CON + use of the word f*g if you do not care about the specifics of this please skip on to the chapter I am going to spoil it a bit for those that might want to know as well as tell you exactly where in the chapter the mention occurs. What happens is: in a flashback Andrew removes his belt to whip Klaus and it is briefly implied that Klaus thinks that he is about to be raped. He is not, Andrew just hits him and calls him a 'fag' but it might be triggering to some IDK, the mention is in passing, it is only really implied, if you wish to skip this section skip the last 2 paragraphs of the italic text (after spoiled rich little brats) all you will miss is what I have just described bluntly. I also hope this was an appropriate way to handle this I wanted to have Andrew whip Klaus (because I actually think I mentioned it before) and I ended up doing it with a belt and i didn't want to ignore what it looked like when I was setting it up, it wasn't intentional.

_“I’ll go get Andrew.”_

_“No.”  Five said shortly._

_“No?” Luther said amazed._

_“I believe him. Andrew is the one responsible for this.”_

 

* * *

 

 

“Five, that makes no sense at all.” Luther said standing up straighter and taking a defensive position.

 

“Of course it does,” Five scoffed and stood up folding the comforter down to revel Klaus’s torso, they could now see where the bandages were being stained crimson where the stitches should be keeping them white, “Actually, the more I think about it the more it makes sense.”

 

Grace silently put in motion the repair efforts to Klaus’s bandages, checking over his foot first, nodding silently to herself before she went on to check the other more serious wounds, including those on his back. Diego watched her silently, then abruptly said,

 

“Mom, what would make a wound like that?” Grace looked up from where she had gently moved Klaus to his side.

 

“Whipping, looks like with a belt from the bruising.” She said simply and with far more kindness than the sentence should have. Incidentally Grace was right…

 

* * *

 

 

_Beating and the knife were getting to be a bit boring for Andrew. Sure, he loved good ole’ fashioned fists, and who didn’t like to carve up skin? Watch as pale white yielded to violent crimson, sure he loved that. But he had been given free – rein on this assignment, do whatever you want, but you need to get in the house make them trust you, find out if the Umbrella Academy is making a return, find out if Sir Reginald was really dead, and if so how he died, then kill them and burn the house to the ground._

_That left so much room to interpret, to improvise, so many options not enough time. As a free-lance assassin and mercenary Andrew wasn’t used to being given so much freedom. Before he had been kicked out of the Marines he hadn’t had freedom to make his own choices, and before he was a Marine? He had been in military school, his life was being a solider, taking orders.  As a free-agent one might think there was more room for him to be creative, but no. People who hired someone like Andrew had very specific things in mind. He specialized in masochistic assassination, a phrase he had come up with, for when people wanted their target to suffer greatly before they died but didn’t want to get their hands dirty. People like that typically had such specific instructions, ‘I want you to use this’ or ‘I want you to cut off this body part’, never ‘do whatever’. Admittedly, this assignment was a bit odd for Andrew, but it had sounded so interesting he couldn’t pass it up. Plus, he got to hurt the Umbrella Academy brats. He had always hated those kids when he was growing up, everyone was so obsessed with them, they just seemed to be spoiled rich little brats._

_None of this was what Andrew was thinking when he surveyed Klaus in that basement thinking about how bored he was. He kicked at Number Four’s side in frustration before turning around to pee in the corner of the basement, as he was re-doing his belt he had an idea. He returned to his victim and used the toe of his boot to turn him over, currently the guy was half out of it, he had stopped trying to fight Andrew a while ago. He slipped off his belt and surprisingly the man scrambled at this, making noises that sounded somewhat like ‘No.’ and ‘please’. That’s when he realized what the stupid little junkie must think was about to happen. He whipped him once just for thinking such a terrible thing._

_“That.” He said pleased when the belt came away slick with blood. “Was for thinking I’m a filthy little fag like you.” In the end Andrew had to throw the belt away, but he did find out that whipping was pretty fun, though he would have to get his hands on a bull-whip, using his belt just seemed wrong._

 

* * *

 

 

“Whipping?” Allison asked as she begun to help Grace who simply nodded.

 

“What does this have to do with anything?” Five said angrily. Being his brother, Diego was able to hear the hint of exhaustion and frustration that it was lined with. Diego didn’t answer, he headed back to the infirmary to fetch clean bandages. Five gave an irritated sigh and turned back to Luther, “It makes sense, but it’s too clever a plan to explain to someone as bull headed as you are.” He snapped, angry. Not angry at Luther, but at himself, dammit there must have been signs how did he not know? How could he have missed this.

 

“Hey-“ Luther began to protest, Five cut him off.

 

“Oh I’m sorry, Ape-brained. I meant Ape-brained.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! there :) I am actually nearly done writing the rest of this arc with Andrew. 
> 
> The family emergency is still on-going so if posting becomes erratic it is because of that. 
> 
> Leave me comments, a few times with this story they have cured an impending writers block, also: I am at 20850 words and 79 pages at the current moment tough I am probably not done writing for the night.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All googling done for this chapter was on Scrooge Mc Duck (I'm serious)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here! Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I just lost my grandma and I decided to give myself an easier night.

Andrew stood alone in the foyer for a moment, weighing his options; the fit that Klaus had just had was likely to put him out for a few hours at least, plus it seemed like the rest of the family was barreling towards a long debate and from what he had observed so far that could go on for almost as long. He should try to get in there and steer the conversation in his favor, he certainly needed to get back in there before Klaus woke. However, he hadn’t had much of a chance to search the house for anything useful to his mission. He settled on an hour, he would give himself sixty minutes to do recon before he returned to the foyer, if someone came looking for him within that time he could always say he got lost on his way to the bathroom. The place _was_ huge, and maze like. It was very feasible.

 

Excuse in hand, he made his way to the upper level. He had already been shown around a bit, mainly the kitchen and bathrooms as well as where to find Pogo the… monkey butler. Honestly fuck this family and this house, it was a bit too weird here. Andrew was getting frustrated with his assignment, but he had gone too far to just back out now, but it had required some quick thinking, making up a dog, pretending to be gay and into the filthy junkie they were all doting on, anything that he thought might make them trust him more. He headed in the direction of the bedrooms which had been indicated to him by Allison at one point with a general wave of her hand.

 

The bedrooms weren’t really all that helpful, mostly they seemed to be children’s bedrooms, leftover fossils from childhood. He breezed through a few finding almost nothing interesting, and nothing helpful. The bedrooms were smaller than he had expected, when he had grown up during the height of the Academy’s popularity he had always thought of those masked kids as living large lavish and spoiled lifestyles, when Allison had transferred to Hollywood this had only confirmed this in his eyes. But, now he was seeing that this was not really the case. Their childhood was strange and un-expected, they weren’t… spoiled, if anything Reginald Hargraves had tried his best to give them as little as possible. It was odd, he had expected Daddy Warbucks, and instead it seemed that he was more of a Scrooge McDuck. The whole thing baffled him, but ultimately, he didn’t see the point in learning too much about these people’s lives, they would all be dead soon. And they deserved it as far as Andrew cared. He didn’t know why whoever hired him cared to gather the information if he just wanted Andrew to kill them anyways. He found his way to Reginald’s study and began to casually survey the room, he still had 20 minutes in his self-imposed deadline, and not a peep from the brats. Perfect.

 

The first thing he noticed in the room was that it was a mess, but it was a mess that clearly hadn’t been touched for a while. Dust had gathered almost everywhere, on top of papers that had been left out as well as shelves, no one had done any work here in a long time. This further confirmed his theory that Reginald was in fact dead. He had been in his house for a few days now and had no sign of him. The brats were very reluctant to talk about him. He wondered if they had managed to talk to him through Klaus. It seemed likely that they would try as they seemed used to contacting Ben. Ben was a problem. If he followed Klaus around, then Ben was a witness. A witness he didn’t expect, he could assume Ben saw everything even when he couldn’t actually speak to Klaus, which it seemed like he was always able to do. The other siblings were very willing to discredit anything that Klaus said, much more so than he was expecting, they had gone from ‘let’s all see what Ben has to say’ to ‘Ben’s not here Klaus, be quiet’ in less than a minute. He was expecting this to be harder, but Luther was just too easy to manipulate. And, he seemed to be the leader, their number 1. It was all so easy. Killing them would be easy too, if he could just get them apart…

 

There was the distinct sound of someone coming up the stairs, he swore and moved out of the office, glad he had thought not to disturb anything. He couldn’t be caught in here, even by the robot or the monkey, it would be suspicious if he killed either of them and he still had things he needed to know. It was neither of them though, it was the movie star, Allison number 3.

 

“Oh, there you are! What are you doing in Dad’s wing?”

 

“I got lost, I wanted to give you guys space but I couldn’t find the bathroom, I must have taken a left where I should have gone right…” He trailed off, she frowned deeply small lines marring the smooth skin between her eyebrows.

 

“It’s over here, I’ll show you again, then we need you downstairs.”

 

“For what? Am I being charged with a crime Your Honor?” he said trying to refer to the movie she had done where she had been a judge, she pursed her lips.

 

“Maybe.” She said quietly and with very little room for mercy in her voice. Andrew had thought Luther was the scariest but he was suddenly thinking he was wrong. He went over what he knew about her powers as she led him to the washroom. She was powerful, she had power over anyone and everyone and she knew it. It would be sexy if it wasn’t so horrifyingly terrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whooo, I actually went through and read the whole story today on Ao3 and I got to the end and I was like 'shit that's all you guys have?? wow you guys are behindddd' over the next few chapters things start to happen fast. Hopefully not too fast, I didn't want it to be like andnoweendthis but that may be what it reads like, I'm still refining but I go with my gut and my gut said do this. Also thank you to one of the commenters (can't remember which!) who gave me the idea behind this chapter, I was near writers block but your comment about Allison inspired this chapter. 
> 
>  
> 
> Leave me more comments!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison is the mom friend (sibling)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit shorter than normal but a good stopping place is a thing I cant resist...

Finding Andrew like that rattled Allison it brought an unwelcome memory of Leonard. She was frowning fiercely by the time she had made her way back down to Klaus and the others. She crossed her arms and stood behind Five who had taken up his curled posture by the head of the bed once Klaus’s wounds had been re-tended. Thankfully, there hadn’t been too much, Klaus was now sporting a sling to keep him immobilized as much as possible without actually restraining him which they all agreed was a bad idea. She dragged her eyes over her brother, over the bruises, over the bandages, she finally let herself think about what lay under the covers,  that had been oh-so-carefully tucked around him, what lay under the gauze and the bandages they had all lovingly wrapped around him. She watched his chest rise and fall, slowly and not nearly as deeply as she would have wanted for someone she cared about. She thought about all the times she had ignored Klaus. They all had. He was the basket case, the junkie, the failure. He wanted attention and didn’t care how he got it. They had been almost as horrible to him as they had been to Vanya. Before she could process all of her thoughts, and revelations, she was crying, hot tears flowing as she stared ahead blankly at Klaus breathing. He didn’t deserve it. He had always been sweet, chaotic and sweet and she had thrown him away the second he became troubling. It was the same thing she had done with Claire, used her power the second something objectionable came up. The difference here was Klaus may have appreciated a rumor or two to help him out.

 

“Allison?” it was Luther, always Luther. He sounded hesitant as if he thought she would lash out at him reaching out.

 

“Whoever did this.” She started stopping to take a huge breath and kneel behind the head of the bed, “I want them to pay. I want them to suffer.” She brushed his hair to the side, “and I want them to die.” There were small nods all around the room.

 

“We all want that Allison.” Luther said firmly.

 

“No, you don’t understand. _We_ did this.” There was puzzled silence, she went on, “ _We,_ failed him, _we_ ignored him, and… and…” She swallowed the word combing her hands through Klaus’s hair.

 

“We may not have been the most supportive but… None of us would hurt Klaus.” Luther said looking around the room for support and finding none.

 

“No.” Diego croaked, “But we did.” There was silence for a moment as Diego pictured the words in his mind, “Not with… knives or… whatever… but we damaged Klaus, made him a target…I-“

 

“There’s nothing we can do about it now.” Five said gently and without malice, “It’s good we’re acknowledging this but feeling guilty about it won’t make it disappear, we just need to not do it again.” His voice sounded hoarse and dry, his hard exterior cracking open to reveal the scared boy beneath. He reached over and tucked the stuffed cow from Luther closer into Klaus’s side.

 

“Right.” Luther said awkwardly, throughout the entire conversation Vanya looked uncomfortable. She had a right to, the same thing had happened to her, but that was a conversation for another day.

 

“The best thing we can do is find the people who did this.” Vanya said hesitantly, everyone nodded, except Five, and Allison, who looked grim.

 

“ _Person._ Singular. And they’re here we just need to figure out _why._ ” Five corrected Allison looked down at Klaus and nodded slowly.

 

“You believe this too?” Luther asked stunned.  She only nodded again, continuing to run her hands through Klaus’s sweaty locks, she began to hum lightly and as if that was the magic spell, his eyes flickered open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually think I may write this forever, I keep having ideas for how to further the plot... but I did just write 1000 words of pure fluff so you have that to look forward to in a few chapters. 
> 
> I have 23018 words on this and it is 88 pages, for comparison this chapter ended on page 74 0..0 so. yeah.... 
> 
> comment below (please?)


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMM all I can think of for a chapter summary is 'Allison pets Klaus like a cat'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woot woot

_“You believe this too?” Luther asked stunned.  She only nodded again, continuing to run her hands through Klaus’s sweaty locks, she began to hum lightly and as if that was the magic spell, his eyes flickered open._

 

* * *

 

 

“Klaus?” Five asked genuinely surprised to see bright green eyes struggle to focus on him, they hadn’t been expecting Klaus to wake so soon.

 

“Hey shorty.” Klaus rasped attempting a smile which was interrupted by a cough, during the fit and the flurry of activity that followed he had slid a bit too far down the bed.

 

“We should sit him up more.” Five said looking to Diego expectantly. Diego to his credit moved immediately, gently but swiftly maneuvering. Once Klaus was settled in a position that allowed him to actually breathe a bit he looked around the room seeming more relaxed then before and perhaps slightly more coherent. He swallowed and tested his voice again.

 

“Where did he go?” There was no question about who the ‘he’ Klaus was talking about was.

 

“He’s upstairs.” Allison said softly. Klaus closed his eyes tight, squeezing back tears.

 

“Please.” Was all he said at first. “Don’t let him back in.”

 

“We won’t.” Five said firmly.

 

“But you need to tell us why you think it was Andrew that did this to you.” Luther said bluntly, standing by the foot of the bed in a way that was probably not meant to be intimidating,  but sort of was. It wasn’t exactly his fault he seemed to loom menacingly all the time, not that Luther himself made much of an effort to remedy this. Klaus winced at the mere mention of Andrew’s name. Allison glared at Luther and Diego leaned forward and put his hand on Klaus’s cheek, frowned at the heat that still seemed to stick there and then moved his hand to rest on Klaus’s good shoulder.

 

“Because it _was._ ” Klaus said trying to hold back tears of frustration and defeat, because _of course_ this was happening. Of course. His family didn’t believe him, if anyone else in this room pointed a finger and they would follow it. Klaus had to have evidence, had have proof. Proof he didn’t –couldn’t- have, “He- He grabbed me off a street stuck an IV in my arm and beat me for days in a basement.” Klaus said.  This piqued Five’s interest.

 

“An IV?” Klaus nodded once, still not opening his eyes.

 

“There was no sign of an IV Klaus, I checked your arms while we were cleaning your wounds.” Luther argued and god, Klaus couldn’t lift his own head properly and Luther was trying to have a debate. Diego snapped.

 

“Why? What were you looking for?” his hand tightened protectively around Klaus’s shoulder, he didn’t need an answer, he knew exactly what Luther had been searching for in the crook of Klaus’s arm. Diego just wanted to hear him admit it.

 

“Track marks.” Luther said bluntly, not caring to be ashamed, he got glares and a severe look from Allison but he didn’t seem to care. “Look, someone had to do it.” Diego took a breath to snap at his brother again, to tell him that no one had to betray Klaus’s trust like that, but Klaus cut him off.

 

“Fair. Okay- yeah that’s –that’s fair, but he did put an IV in me but I don’t-“

 

“What?” Diego seemed genuinely shocked at what Klaus was saying, Klaus chewed his lip, not seeming to want to get into it, “What do you mean? It was fair that he assumed you were using again? Klaus that’s not fair that’s wrong. You deserve the benefit of the doubt.”

 

“I really don’t but-“ Klaus dissolved into a cough, “could anyone get me some water?” he seemed afraid to ask, unsure if he was allowed ask his siblings to do things for him. Vanya jumped up from the couch glad to have something to do, she fetched the glass again, Klaus opened his eyes to drink and was faced with his siblings, after a few sips he spoke again. “I don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, if Andrew didn’t do… I doubt I would have been sober another whole week.” He explained, with a finality that was meant to dismiss the issue. Diego frowned, Klaus thought about making a joke that he would get wrinkles if he kept that up. But it really didn’t feel like the time for jokes, or for having this conversation. He let his eyes shut again instead.

 

“Alright,” Said Five gently killing whatever argument Diego was about to make to Klaus about why he was wrong about himself. “Do you remember which arm it was in?” Five asked clinically, cutting through the crap and straight back to the point.

 

“Left” Klaus said after a moment. Five nodded thoughtfully.

 

“There was no sign of an IV on that arm-“ Klaus’s voice bubbled in protest to interrupt him again so he quickly went on, “because the place where an IV would be was bleeding, he must have covered his tracks.” Five finished. Klaus relaxed, and opened his eyes again to glance lazily at Five.

 

“What do we do now?” Vanya asked, Diego practically jumped into a standing position.

 

“We go upstairs and we kill that bitch.” He drew a knife from seemingly nowhere, Klaus almost giggled, where did he keep them?

 

“No. We can’t do that.” Five instantly replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Klaus nodded, closing his eyes and shifting around a bit, wincing at every movement. “Not yet.”

 

“What?”  Diego asked stunned.

 

“No, Dee, he’s right.” Klaus said voice growing softer, head beginning to lean to the side again. “All he would talk about when he was…was about how he would kill you guys… gotta… know… why… can’t…” Allison placed her hand back in Klaus’s hair and began to run her fingers through his curls.

 

“Hey, hey, shhh. We believe you okay? Rest now. Save your strength.” Klaus hummed pressing his head gently back into her fingers, she drew her manicured nails lightly over his scalp, and for the first time in a long while Klaus drifted off into a peaceful and restful sleep. The stoke of Allison’s nails protecting him from nightmares, and brining dreamless rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there you are! I actually didn't write today I am bone tired and have a test tomorrow but I did edit and come out with 400 more words than I did so I call it a win, after all days like this are why I keep like 2 chapters ahead of you! 
> 
> Allison is a boss ass bitch in the next chapter you have been warned.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I... heard... a rumor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read end Note for some announcements :3

_“Hey, hey, shhh. We believe you okay? Rest now. Save your strength.” Klaus hummed pressing his head gently back into her fingers, she drew her manicured nails lightly over his scalp, and for the first time in a long while Klaus drifted off into a peaceful and restful sleep. The stoke of Allison’s nails protecting him from nightmares, and brining dreamless rest._

 

* * *

 

 

“So… what? We’re just on board with this now?” Luther asked the room, Allison glared at him keeping her hands tangled and moving in Klaus’s curls.

 

“Yes. He’s our brother.” Allison said firmly with that severe kind of authority she had.

 

“On board with what?” She had almost forgotten that Andrew was on his way down, it had taken him awhile to make his way to the foyer and then the living room how much had he heard? What had he been doing in that time? She turned her gaze to him and without hesitation,

 

“I heard a rumor you fell asleep.” She said directing her clipped words carefully to him, careful not to hit any of her siblings, he dropped like a bag of stones.

 

“Allison!” Luther shouted, distressed. Five blinked in and out of the room a few times and before Luther could protest much more (not that limited time really stopped him), Andrew was hog tied to a chair head lolling forward. Allison planted a kiss firmly on Klaus’s head and stood.

 

Something that was always unique about Allison is that when she got angry she became the most controlled and calculated person you would ever meet. Anger didn’t make her lose control; she was driven, in every sense of the word. Once she decided she wanted something, or that she was going to take a specific course of action. She did. Nothing and no one could get in her way. Not her father, and certainly not Luther.

 

 She strutted as if there was a runway connecting her to the helpless scum bag Five had hog-tied. She bent over putting her lips to his ear; whispering was the best way to direct her power, to make completely sure that not everyone in the vicinity was affected. She could do it other ways in a pinch but making sure only her target could hear her clearly gave her more room to focus on what she actually wanted them to do, without as much room for misinterpretations.  She grabbed him roughly by the hair to give her a clear shot to his ear leaning his head to the side and exposing his neck like she was a vampire about to suck him dry.

 

“I heard a rumor you woke up.” She commanded, seemingly casually. His eyes snapped open just as fast as they had closed. She smiled, “good boy,” She almost cooed at him, though she was far from finished. She went on, hitting every single letter with clipped and precise percussion, “Now; I heard a rumor you stopped lying. I heard a rumor you told us the truth. _I. Heard. A. Rumor._ you told us _everything_.” She leaned back happy with her handy work and content that he would do as she asked.

 

Andrew’s jaw was bulging as he forced his teeth closed, as he resisted. She began to make her way back to Klaus, heels clicking on the hardwood like teeth. She settled herself among her stunned siblings expecting him to pour his heart out by the time she sat down, he didn’t. “ _Now.”_ She said, and the word resonated throughout the room, Vanya flinched away as the word seemed to echo endlessly, a lightbulb flashed and went out in the third-floor guest bathroom.

 

Allison forced herself to take even breaths, she had channeled her power with that word, she was sure of it, even if she hadn’t said the part about the rumor. It was like she was so mad it didn’t matter, her emotion had carried the power and not her words. Andrew’s mouth fell open and he spit to the side, sending a tooth that had cracked under the fruitless attempt to resist flying, and he began to speak.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends! I am happy to say that I think part 1 of this story has been written (not Posted, written), this story is far from over but I will likely take a bit of a break from posting after I have part 1 completely up! I've decided to leave it all in one story (or would you rather I make a series, this one ending the Andrew bit and the next dealing with Klaus's recovery and more about who hired Andrew and etc?) I'm not going to stop writing I just may take a bit of a break from posting to get ahead (once I get part 1 posted, which came out as 23746 words and 91 pages) there are about 2-3 more chapters before I break (one is rather long and I may split it) from posting and depending on how much I write in that time it may not even be that long a break! a few days at least a week at most But I think I might write a one shot first to clear my head. This story really got away from me like whooo-weeee 
> 
> Anyways thoughts on that? I actually care what you guys want to see, and I desperately want to write more of the siblings caring for Klaus and him recovering. Actually that was why I started writing this in the first place... I just got distracted by a plot....


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> when some doors close, others open...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post last night! I came home late and just kind of passed out. Ops.

 

_...Andrew’s mouth fell open and he spit to the side, sending a tooth that had cracked under the fruitless attempt to resist flying, and he began to speak._

 

* * *

 

 

Andrew spoke for about an hour before Allison stopped him.  Klaus remained blissfully asleep during that time. The specific rumors that Allison had used had urged him to describe in great and excruciating detail exactly what he had done to Klaus. What he had used, in what order, what he had said.  How he had been watching all of them since the apocalypse, how much he hated all of them for no reason, how he had enjoyed it. Allison let him go on and on, they all swallowed back objections laced with guilty bile, and let it happen, she felt they deserved it. They did, this horrible description, this gruesome narrative the man wove would be a remainder, a punishment, insurance that they never let one of their own slip in such a way again.  Finally, they could take no more, they were all crying freely and openly now.

 

_“Stop.”_ Allison commanded. “Who hired you?” she asked she didn’t have to rumor him, he would tell them, she was confident of it.

 

“I don’t know” a laugh bubbled up from within him, the loss of control over his own actions was causing him to lose it, Allison wasn’t sure if she hadn’t knocked out of place something in his deranged head that had already been loose. “I really don’t know.” He let his head hand down and shook it back and forth slow and deliberate, arms still straining against his bonds, “Envelope in a P.O. Box.” He laughed and it was the horrible laugh of a person who didn’t care to lie anymore. “I had another P.O. Box to send the information to, and to give confirmation that I had completed my job.”

 

“And that was?” Luther asked, gruffly. He had looked sheepish through most of Andrew’s speech, which only confirmed what Klaus had said, what Luther had so readily doubted. He jumped at the P.O. Box, at the chance to have something he could work with.

 

“It won’t help you.” Andrew shook his head his face forming a smile. “Payed for in cash, under the name of someone who died 30 years ago, it’s a dead end. I checked.” Diego closed his eyes.

 

“Anything else?” Diego asked calmly, without a hint of the stutter that had been plaguing him.  He knew Andrew would be compelled to answer.

 

“Noo. Noo.” Andrew laughed as if it was the most hilarious joke in the world, “What now? What will the Umbrella Brats do?” he crooned at them mockingly leaning forward he opened his mouth to add to it, to mock them further, a knife landed firmly in his forehead with such force that his chair was knocked backwards into the foyer. He landed on his back legs still tied to the chair sticking up in the air like a turtle. As he fell something shifted around and out of his jacket with a low flopping sound, none of the siblings heard or even saw the file shift so it was visible.

 

“Diego!” Luther snapped going to the doors and looking down at where Andrew was still twitching, blood beginning to gather around his head and in his hair. Distracting from the incriminating file now sticking out from his jacket, waiting to be found.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Stop it you two. He had nothing else to tell us, you all know that, plus we know where he was based we can search it if we want to later.” Five cut his siblings argument off before it could even begin in earnest. Luther let out a firm sigh through his nose and slid the doors closed on an approaching Grace, a light ‘oh dear what a mess!’ could be heard from the foyer. Grace and Pogo would deal with it, they could –and would fill them in later, on how the man Diego had killed had been trying to steal a file from their father’s office, The File, the file containing the sum of all his research on them as children, their weakness details not even Pogo knew where coded in that file. Andrew had, knowingly or not plucked the one file from the house that could spell ruin for the entire Academy. They had other things to deal with at the moment, the most pressing of which was that Klaus was beginning to stir awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There!! The next chapter is loooong and will be the final installment in this part of the story, I hope you are all satisfied with Andrew's end, and I hope the plot points I dunno make sense? I decided to add the file after this part was already written, so I had to go back and add it. 
> 
> Also I have decided to keep this all one long story, mainly because I don't want to come up with another title, this one barely has a title that makes sense, i chose it because the phone was a big part of the prompt and his siblings would doubt him and thing he was high. . . IDK also there were no Klaus fics titled after that song (that I've seen) and I couldn't figure out why.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is pure fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some fluff to finish off this 'part' of our story.

Rest was not the same thing as sleep Klaus had come to conclude. He was actually pretty sure he was waking from the only real rest he had experienced in years. He let it come on slowly, not wanting to rush out of the warm and cozy place that Allison’s fingers in his hair had led him to. They were still there, in his hair, he could feel them gently tugging him into the real world, waking up to the crisp smell of clean linen, just a hint of sandalwood and vanilla behind it. No, that wasn’t right, Grace used flower scented detergent… the only time he had used the cheaper fresh smelling kind had been… _“Morning sweetheart, you certainly like to take your time getting up don’t you?”_ vanilla and sandalwood… His heart twanged and he forced his eyes open, _Dave?_ But by the time he managed to make his eyes hit the light Dave was gone. Klaus doubted that Dave had ever even been there, it was just a memory not a ghost. At this point Klaus wasn’t sure which he would prefer.

 

He felt peaceful, the fear that Andrew’s presence in the house had brought was gone, Klaus knew instantly that his siblings had ended the life of his torturer. Klaus was connected with death, sometimes more so than he was with life, if he knew a person he could tell you the instant they died, even if they had only met in passing. Sometimes he would feel a pang of loss or grief randomly and then find out a day or so latter someone he used to be close to had died.

 

The worst he had ever felt it was with Ben, he had been home in bed with some kind of fever or something during the mission where Ben had been killed, he remembered sitting bolt upright and screaming, Grace had to give him a sedative eventually. He kept trying to tell her ‘Ben is gone! They killed him! They killed Ben!’ Reginald had stood in the frame of his door frowning, Vanya lingering a safe distance behind ‘What is he saying about Number Six? Ridiculous! Shut him up!’. He had been too high when Reginald himself had died to feel it, which he was grateful for he didn’t want to give the man any of his grief, even if it was a weird byproduct of his power.

 

Klaus blinked slightly not quite awake yet, and not yet sure if he would let himself come all the way up. Diego was saying something, and he felt something cool and metal being slipped around his head. Despite the coolness of the metal to the touch, it didn’t feel cool in the way a medical instrument might, it made Klaus feel warm and safe. He didn’t have to look down to identify the object. Dave’s tags, he must have said Dave’s name out loud when he was waking then. Having them rest against his heart again eased tension from his shoulders. His eyes briefly met Ben’s who nodded at him and then disappeared. He wondered what he had gone to do, maybe beat the hell out of Andrew in the spirit realm. That sounded like something Ben would do, spiritual healing through physical violence… or spiritual violence. Whatever, Ben had basically been tortured too, gone through all but the physical parts of what Andrew had put him through. Klaus’s selfish side bubbled happily at the thought that he wasn’t completely alone, though his rational side squashed it with love for his brother.

 

He managed to clear his vision –mostly- and reached to clutch Dave’s tags with both hands, finding his left arm hard to move and his right arm heavy with sleep.

 

“Yeah, sorry man but no moving your left am for a while. Really, no moving at all.” Klaus glanced at Diego and gave him a half smile, managing to get the dog tags tangled comfortably between his heavy and clumsy fingers.

 

“But what if I have things to do?”

 

“We’ll do them for you.”

 

“What if I have to wipe my ass?”

 

“Luther will do that part.”

 

“What if I don’t want him to. What if I want you to do that?”

 

“Tough shit, Luther is the ass-wiper in this family.” Klaus hummed in place of a laugh, he didn’t feel the need to cough at the moment and he wanted to keep it that way. There was a long pause and Klaus thought he might be allowed to go back to sleep.

 

“We killed him, well Diego did.” Five said from somewhere on his left, Klaus hummed again and opened his eyes… when had they gotten themselves closed?

 

“I know.” He said simply

 

“How? Is he still here?” Diego sounded panicked, Klaus almost laughed, was Diego afraid of ghosts? Or just afraid of something he couldn’t punch or stab?

 

“No. No ghosts right now not even- oh hi Ben.” Ben returned to his spot on the couch. Raising his eyebrows. His siblings glanced to Ben with varying levels of success at actually looking in the right direction, as well as varying amounts of enthusiasm for the idea that Ben was actually there and able to communicate.

 

“I’m the only haunt in this house it seems.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, seems Andrew booked it right on into that white light, didn’t even stay to say hello to me. Or my friends.” Ben patted his stomach lightly. “Too bad he went where I can’t follow. I wanted to have words with him.”

 

“Won’t.” Klaus countered.

 

“Can’t” Ben reacted, quicker.

 

“Won’t! I’m not having this argument again.” Klaus corrected trying to wiggle himself into a more comfortable position, only to have Diego stop him.

 

“No. Moving. Seriously Klaus like almost all your bones are broken just stay still.” Diego said firmly, fussing over the pillows as well as turning the face of Brownie, his Fuggler, away so it was no longer facing out towards Diego but in towards Klaus. “What argument?” he asked as Klaus scooped up Brownie with his good-ish arm and manipulated him as best he could so he was sitting on one of the pillows facing Diego head on.

 

“Ben, he’s always saying he can’t go peaceful into that goodnight but I think he’s just stubborn.” Klaus poked at Brownie’s arm trying to make him wave at Diego.

 

“Klaus stop, what even is that thing? Vanya found it in your room.” Diego plucked it from Klaus’s hand and held it as if it would bite him. Which was somewhat fair, it did have teeth.

 

“It’s a Fuggler, Funny Ugly Monster, his name’s Brownie.”

 

“He’s not even brown.”

 

“Tis’ what I was on when I bought him.” Diego laid Brownie back down next to Klaus frowning and after a moment tucking him in to the blankets so his paws (claws?) were on the covers next to Klaus. Klaus giggled, and let out a small cough for his trouble.

 

“That reminds me!” Luther moved from where he was standing by the doors to the bed reaching to grab a stuffed cow that was nestled somewhere in the bedding. “Here, I got this for you.”

 

“A…it’s a cow?”

 

“Yeah, I saw it and though you would like it.” Luther seemed sheepish holding the tiny cow in his massive hand, it had a happy little smile stitched on its snout, and its legs flopped out at all angles, Klaus thought it looked very friendly.

 

“Thanks.” He reached out for the toy, his hand shook with fatigue and emotion, he didn’t think that Luther had ever given him a gift before, and certainly not just because he thought he would like it. In the end Klaus couldn’t even hold the weight of the tiny cow and Luther ended up tucking it in on Klaus’s other side. He stepped back seeming pleased with himself, and for once at least some of his siblings felt he had a reason to be. “Didja name it?” Klaus asked looking from the cow to Luther.

 

“Uh.. No.” ah, there was more of the Luther he knew. “You should name him, he’s your cow.”

 

“I’m tooooo tirrrreddd.” Klaus whined.

 

“Then sleep.” Five said bluntly. Ignoring Klaus’s small protest of ‘but that’s all I’ve done’, he turned to Luther. “All cows are female, Bulls are the males.”

 

“Don’t assume his gender Five, he might be a boy!” Klaus closed his eyes trying once again to adjust himself getting a small protest out of Diego. Luther seemed to be thinking hard, his face a mask of almost pain.

 

“Al…. Alex? That can be a boy name or a girl name?” Luther said hesitantly.

 

“Ohhh! Gender neutral!” Klaus opened his eyes beaming at his brother. “I love it!” Luther smiled triumphantly, which was rare he normally just scowled. They were all smiling, Vanya cracking a small hesitant lop-sided grin, Allison smiled warmly at the banter, and Diego gave a bewildered smile… Five didn’t actually smile though his face was 20% less grim then normal so it counted.

 

“Did you find out what he wanted? Why he… well you know…” Klaus asked after the room had settled a bit.

 

            “No, he was hired by somebody to infiltrate and then kill us.” Five said standing and putting his hands in his pockets he wandered behind the mattress and began to examine the various monitors that were set up there. Luther traced Five’s path with his eyes, Klaus on the other hand let his eyes shut again and nodded slightly.

 

“We know there is someone out there who wants us dead, which is not comforting.”

 

“Or wants to test us.” Vanya said looking off into space and not at her siblings.

 

“What?”

 

“No, she’s right… Whoever sent Andrew wanted to test us to see how quickly we would pick up on a spy… They also thought he might do some spying which doesn’t make any sense… why do that if you’re going to assassinate us? No, whoever hired him expected us to kill him, wanted us to, they were just interested in how long it would be before we did.” Five said facing away from his siblings his hands in his pockets.

 

“How do you know? How can you be sure?” Vanya was the only one who dared speak, Diego realized in that moment that Vanya may be the bravest out of any of them.

 

“Because,” Five said simply, casually, “It’s what I would do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There! ~ Here is another reminder that I am taking about a week off from posting, I will be writing in this week so I will get ahead, I almost ended the story here and made another story that was a sequel and I still might do that TBH I think it might help because this story is getting intimidatingly long.... IDK I would just call it Part 2 if I do that I will post the next chapter here and to start off the new story I guess? yeah. Since the next bit is like introing the next arc. but it might be nice to leave it all as one UGH I DONT KNOW, what do you guys think when you see a fic this long are you less likely to click on it? 
> 
> Also this chapter was looong I would have split it in two but there was no natural stopping point and plus I'm going to take a break so you should get a little extra. 
> 
> Also I had just ordered a Fuggler when I wrote this so thats why it is discussed so much. He was supposed to arrive today but he didn't >:c I keep trying to write a little quickie sick fic one shot but I write a few words on it and then get a idea for the next chunk of this so... idk. 
> 
> See you in about 1 week!


	26. Preview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the preview of the next installment of this series / story this will also be the first chapter of the next story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again my pretties...

Somewhere outside the Academy, not exactly near and not exactly far a man in a long overcoat glanced at his watch. He frowned, someone was running late and it wasn’t him. He mechanically flicked his eyes back and forth over the darkening street, where he finally saw his assistant skittering towards him, she stopped umbrella clutched in her hand but not yet unfurled.

 

            “Sir.” She said quickly as a greeting, standing up a bit straighter and holding the umbrella out for him to take, which he did.

 

            “Well?” He said impatiently, checking his watch again just so that she knew just how late she had been.

 

            “Andrew Stryker has been terminated. It was Number 2 that killed him I believe.” She reported briefly. The man nodded not surprised in the least.

 

            “Of course, what did the invaluable Mr. Stryker tell him under Number 3’s influence?” The mousy assistant opened her mouth and closed it a few times, irritating him further “Today, please. Miss. Anthea.” She shut her mouth firmly and nodded once.

 

            “Everything he knew.”

 

            “Good. Not much then.” He allowed himself a laugh, it came out more like a bark. Opening up the sleek black umbrella and pulling it into position above his head, as soon as he was protected under the umbrella the sky opened up and water began to fall in sheets, Anthea was instantly drenched, the man looked at his watch again. “We will wait for a while then. No point in furthering the plan when Number 4 is so heavily incapacitated. You are dismissed.” He looked at her expectantly without lowering his watch hand, she opened her mouth as if to respond but disappeared without a flash or a sound. The man nodded once firmly to himself as he looked at his watch once more, “Andrew made it 3,550 minutes. 720 less than I thought.” He said to no one, letting his hand fall back into attention at his side. He made no motion that he was going to move. He simply stood there, in the pouring rain, on the dark empty street, waiting for something no one but him seemed to expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK! so this will be the last chapter in 'Why do you only call me when you're high' but this story is far from finished! I'm making it a series, and this chapter will overlap with the first chapter of the next one, which is going to be called 'Do I wanna know?' because well it fits ok? and why not just name them after the 2 arctic monkey's songs I know. 
> 
>  
> 
> Now...my life is about to explode into tech week and the end of the semester. So I may be a little less consistent in my posting. maybe not though because I find writing and posting to be a good way to decompress after rehearsal so who knows. 
> 
> Ok, I'm going to go make that other story now... and figure out how to make it a series wish me luck.
> 
> oh one last thing! Did you catch the references there are 2 one may be more obvious and I just couldn't resist putting it in. One is a little less obvious but I thought it was fitting :) 
> 
> I also do remember doing math to write this so the seconds he says are accurate to something but I forgot what it was over a week ago.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. It was a lot of set up. We will get to the Whumping tomorrow. Or at least the start of it.
> 
> on another note would anyone enjoy a story about Klaus with a service Dog? dealing with Chronic illness? I have this idea but its very specific, it would involve him running away and making his own life. IDK. 
> 
> hopefully you enjoyed this prologueish thing.


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